Camp Kiwachee
by Adrial
Summary: Alright, I get the hint people! My last chapter wasn't NEARLY as romantic as it should have been; so here is and ALTERNATE ending and I can assure you, there's plenty of mush AND gush 4 every! :D Enjoy!
1. 1 This is Going to be a Long Summer

Fic #3!  
  
Hey everyone! For those who are wondering, no I have NOT  
forgotten TGP. I'm working on the 14th and possibly final chapter  
as we speak, but I've been extremely busy and WAY too preoccupied  
to really have any downtime just for it. I promise to get it you  
as SOON as I can.   
As for this one, I wrote it a while back, but I did some   
revisions and broke it down. It's a Sere/Dar (but for my own   
amusementI added the other girls and the gens.) fic and   
strictly for fun. If you're looking for drama and angst I  
highly suggest you search elsewhere or read "Visible   
Barriers" by yours truly! :D  
  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own it, don't want it.  
  
  
"Camp Kiwachee"  
By: Adrial  
E-mail: Adrial_06@yahoo.com  
Rating: PG13  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Soon.  
Objects which littered the cluttered floor   
blared the word in their silence. A mocking bird   
whisteled its morning tune as if to inform the rest   
of the lazy, sleeping world that dawn had approached   
and a new day lay before them.   
Soon.  
A cool frown slowly formed across her somber   
face. The rising sun shined rays of warmth but failed   
to cool the frozen contours of her expression.   
Oblivion welcomed the passing seconds with eagerness,   
enjoying how they glided by so quickly, enhancing the   
stressful cloud forming in the young woman's impatient mind.  
Soon.   
Her eyes darted to the blaring clock, widening   
slightly at the flourescent message they reflected. A   
heavy bag lay across her shoulder, shifting slightly   
with her chaste movements.  
Absentmindedly, she twirled a lock of midnight hair   
between her fingers, tapping her foot in her anxiousness.   
Time was of the essence.  
Sighing, she dropped the bag dully and craned her   
neck to peer up the staircase, barely catching a glimpse   
of a shut door.   
She grunted and climbed the towering stairwell.   
The door loomed inches from her, and she wasted no time   
in seizing the metal handle and shoving it open.  
  
"SERENA TSUKINO, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT TIME IT IS?!"   
With a huff, she wrenched the thick comforter from the bed   
her daughter lay snoring in.  
Groggily, azure eyes peeked open, curious as to   
whom was interupting their rest.  
Serena, startled, stretched into a sitting position   
and covered her ears, "Geez, Mom, can't a girl get her beauty   
sleep?" She reached for the comforter her mother was holding   
hostage at the moment and pouted as she whipped   
it out of reach.  
"In that case, you'll be sleeping forever." A chubby   
face, sticky with jelly, popped into the room.  
"Sammy!" Serena roared and glared at the obnoxious   
being her parents liked to call her 'brother.' She was still   
negotiating the matter.  
"Samuel, leave your sister alone. She has TWENTY   
minutes before her bus leaves," Irene threw her "hostage"   
to the mysterious wooden floor no one had seen since   
Serena had taken over the room sixteen years before.   
Occasionaly, however, glimpses of brown peeked out   
beneath the heaps of laundry and assortment of   
shoes and stuffed animals.  
"WHAT?! WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP?!" Shrieking,   
Serena shoved her brother out the door, leaped over a   
small mountain of magazines and dashed to the bathroom.  
At the sound of running water, Irene sighed   
heavily and exited the room, calling behind her   
back, "Your duffle bag is downstairs!"  
"PHANKS MOM!" Her daughters tooth-pastey reply   
echoed in the bathroom.  
  
Serena emerged a few minutes later, throwing her   
closet open and grabbing an outfit. After nearly falling   
on her desk while she hopped into her jeans, she zipped   
them up triumphantly and slipped on a tank top. Quickly,   
her hands swept over her hair, twisting it into buns   
and brushing out the flowing pigtails.  
Checking her appearence one last time, she grabbed   
a tube of lip-gloss and made a jump for the door.  
  
Over a pan of scrambled eggs, Irene heard the   
tell-tale sound of her daugther's feet plopping down   
the stairs. Like clock-work, Serena stumbled into the   
kitchen, grasped the plate of steaming food from her   
mother's hands, and plopped it on the counter to eat   
while standing.  
"Do you have everything, dear?" Irene sipped her   
coffee cautiously.  
"Um..." Serena furrowed her brow, "I think so,"   
She smiled sheepishly.  
"You'd better go back upstairs and grab your   
toothbrush," Irene murmured.  
"Oh, yeah!" Smacking her forehead, Serena gulped   
down the remaining orange juice in her glass and disappeared   
up the stairs once again.  
  
  
"Bye, Daddy, love you!" Placing a kiss on her   
father's cheek, Serena ran out the door and down the   
sidewalk.  
With a glance at her watch, she sighed and relaxed   
her shoulders. She had three minutes to spare, and it   
would take two to walk the one and a half blocks to   
the bus-stop.  
As she approached her destination, a blur of   
orange greeted her.   
"SEWENA! SEWENA!" Simultaneously, a chorus of   
screeches deafened her ears as she was trampled by a   
herd of squealing pre-schoolers.  
Her duffle bag landed deftly on the concrete,   
and she smiled over-enthusiastically at the bright   
faces peering at her admirably.  
"Hey, guys!" She took a moment to greet as many   
energetic faces as possible before the honking of a bus   
roared above the children's excited conversation.  
"Okay, counselors, let's load 'em up!" Karen,   
head-counselor of Kiwachee Camp, stood atop a bench and   
called order to the bustling group.  
Serena returned Karen's cheery smile. As mere   
coincidence, she and Karen had bumped (literally) into   
each other at the mall one day and struck up a conversation.   
Karen informed her of a camp for the Juuban Orphanage   
she headed and practically begged Serena to become a   
junior counselor.  
"You'd be perfect with the kids!" She had said   
so exitedly that day.  
Not one to let a nice person down--especially a   
*begging*, nice person--Serena obliged and two weeks later,   
found herself volunteering daily at the orphanage and signing   
up to counsel for the first session of Camp Kiwachee: ages 5-7.  
At nearly forty, Karen was a young-spirited brunette.   
The fine lines of age bordering her eyes creased as she   
smiled genially at her newest counselor.   
A puff of inky smoke from the bus wafted up Serena's   
nose and down her throat, sending her into a fit of coughs.   
Frantically waving her hand to disperse the thick smog, she   
knelt to pick up her bulging duffle. This year, Karen had   
informed her, they had been able to afford a coach bus, but   
when the driver came down with the flu, Karen took his place.   
Tiny, yet defiant voices argued acrimoniously in the   
backround. Frowning, Serena turned to referee the inevitable   
kiddie-war. The scene brought her hand to her mouth as   
she tried to stiffle a giggle. Her favorite set of   
twins, Timmy and Tommy Chai, were quarreling over who   
would carry their Blue's Clues suitcase.   
Pouting mouths set in a straight line, they glared   
heatedly at eachother, all the while tugging roughly on   
the smiling face of the ever-lovable Blue.   
"It's MINE, Timmy!" Chai twin #1 yelled.  
"No, it's MINE, Tommy!" Chai twin #2 yanked the   
elaborately decorated suitcase from his brother's hands.  
Fearing for the poor suitcase's well-being, Serena   
knelt beside the squabbling kids and pulled them apart   
gently.   
"Timmy, why don't *you* carry the suitcase and let   
Tommy hold the pillow and blanket?" She handed Tommy a   
matching Blue's Clues pillow.  
"But *I* wanna hold the pillow and blanket!" Timmy  
stamped his tiny feet indignantly on the ground.  
"Alright, then let Tommy take the *suitcase*," Serena   
tugged lightly on the handle.  
Tommy grinned, exposing his combined 6 teeth, and   
reached for the suitcase.  
"But it's MINE!" Timmy grabbed the object of debate   
and stuck his tongue out at his brother.  
Tommy returned the favor and called him what Serena   
interpreted as "Boogerbrain."  
Attempting to help any further would only exacerbate the   
situation, she knew, so she sighed and looked around for   
Karen. Her head ceased its journey over the crowds when   
a shawdow fell over her.  
"Not too good with kiddie-fights are ya?"  
Serena froze in her kneeling position. The last   
thing she wanted to hear at that moment was that   
voice--that mocking, conceited, overly egotistical voice.  
As it glided through the air, it swept away her   
fun-filled week as a junior counselor along with her   
patience. The beginnings of a migraine lurked threateningly   
at the back of her head as she turned to face the smug   
smirk she knew she would see.  
Darien towered over her, his broad shoulders blocking   
the blaring sunshine that was earlier beating down on her back.   
"I'm handling it, Chiba," She said through gritted teeth.  
"That's not exactly what it looked like to me," Darien's   
posture relaxed as Serena's shoulders stiffened.  
She stood for a moment, pondering a good way   
to send him packing, when she noticed his shoulder--more   
interestingly, what was hanging *on* it.  
"What are you--what is *that*?" She stared accusingly   
at him.  
He followed her eyes, "Last time I checked, they were   
calling it a duffle bag, Meatball Head," He sent her another   
sly smile and bent close to the ground where Timmy and   
Tommy were screaming at eachother.  
"Hey, you two, what's with all the fighting?" The   
boys suddenly took notice of the man squatting beside them   
and returned their tongues to their mouths.  
"Darien!" They leapt at him, knocking him from his   
feet. Serena seemed flustered and amused at the same time.   
She assumed that the children were too young to know a   
total jerk when they saw one.  
"I wanna sit by you, Darien!" Timmy tugged his arm.  
"No, *I* wanna sit by him, Timmy!" Tommy latched   
himself onto Darien's calf.  
Serena smiled smugly at him. "I guess I'll let   
*you* take care of this battle, Oh Wise One." She grabbed   
her bag from the ground and joined the thinning group   
of campers onto the bus.  
Darien, complete with Timmy&Tommy attachments,   
stared at her retreating back, annoyed, and followed as   
best he could with the twins hanging from him.  
Karen's effervescent face peered from the driver's   
seat at Darien as he stepped onto the bus, "Nice to   
have you back, Darien. It's been a while."   
"You just saw me last week, Karen," Darien peeled   
Timmy from his arm so he could remove his duffle bag.  
She laughed and closed the door behind him.  
"Hey, wait for me! Open up!" A high-pitched voice,   
rather pissed of sounding, boomed through the glass doors,   
followed by a barrage of banging fists.  
Karen ignored the irriated frown of the girl and   
smiled affably, "Oh, sorry. I'd forgotten all about you,   
Brianna."  
Panting slightly, she flipped a section of flaming   
hair from her shoulder, "Whatever. Now would someone give  
me a *hand* here?"   
Karen peered behind the red-faced teen and gasped.   
A colony of suitcases and bags were being piled onto the   
ground by a bulky man.  
"Um...are you sure you need all that for just one   
week?" She looked quizzical.  
"Of *course* I do," The girl flipped her hair again   
and her flashing green eyes connected with the curious   
midnight onces that were staring at her.  
Her features shifted instantaneously from annoyed   
to sultry, "Hell-O, I don't believe we've met," She held   
out her hand, "I am Brianna Lawson, but *you* may call me   
Bria," She eyed him up and down.  
Darien clasped her hand hesitantly, "I'm Darien,   
and you can just call me... Darien."  
She tilted her head back sharply, letting a rigid   
stream of over-exaggerated giggles chop through the air.  
"Oh, you're so funny! I just *know* you'll help me   
with my bags," She looked pointedly to her trunks,   
smiling as he shrugged and descended the steps. The man   
loading them on to the ground patted his shoulder and   
trotted off.  
  
After removing a pair of sticky hands from her hair,   
and sitting Timmy and Tommy in *separate* seats, Serena   
moved towards the front of the bus to inquire why it wasn't   
in motion yet.  
"Hey, Kare, what's the hold up?" She looked at Karen's   
smiling face and followed her laughing eyes to the door.   
Her hand flew to her mouth. Darien, struggling beneath a   
mountain of luggage was attempting futilely to remove a   
drooling red-haired girl from his arm.  
"You're so *strong* Darien," Brianna grabbed his   
left bicep, trailing her manicured fingernails along it.  
When he heard a snort from the bus, Darien's eyes   
flew to the door. The ever humored Serena was desperately   
attempting to contain her laughter. She turned away from   
his agitated gaze and choked on a supressed giggle.  
"You wanna give me a hand here?" He asked.  
Serena allowed a small splash of laughter to escape   
and jumped from the bus, "Why doesn't your new friend here   
help you out?" She eyed the strange girl incredulously.  
Brianna glared at the intruding girl, viewing her   
rumpled tank-top and jeans critically.  
"You *must* be the bag-girl," She pointed to a   
remaining trunk, "You may get that one there. Pardon me if   
I forget to tip you," With that, she strolled past a gaping   
Serena onto the bus.  
A wave of heated crimson washed over Serena's cheeks.   
"WHAT was THAT?!" She turned to Karen, "Don't tell me I'm   
going to be spending a week with that self-absorbed snob!"  
Karen smiled sheepishly, "Well, Serena, her father   
*is* a big sponsor for this camp..."  
Serena groaned, "Noooo...first HIM," She nodded to   
Darien, "And now her," She put her hand to her forehead   
over-dramatically and sighed, "How ever will I survive?"  
"Come on, Meatball Head, am I that bad?" He grinned   
at her.  
"Don't make me answer that," Serena huffed and   
turned to the steps.  
Darien stopped her, "Wait, aren't you going to help   
me get this stuff?"  
Serena threw a glance at his cluttered arms and   
patted his shoulder, "Oh, such a *strong* man like you   
should be able to handle it," She left him only with a   
trail of her steady laughter.  
"This is going to be an extremely long week," He   
sighed and hefted the trunks under the bus.  
  
  
Sitting cross-legged in their seats, Maya and Chloe   
giggled softly. Maya lifted her shirt and produced a plastic   
bag she had secretly snuck from the orphanage. She tended to   
be the most...hyperactive child at the orphanage, therefore   
forcing her to be banned from any sugar intake early in the  
morning.   
They eyed eachother once more before digging into   
the bag ravenously.  
  
*Three bags of M&M's and seven jolly rancher suckers later...*  
  
"ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM!   
MERRILY, MERRILY, MERRILY, MERRILY, LIFE IS BUT A DREAM!   
ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT GENTLY DOWN THE..."  
Serena's head bobbed slightly as she laughed at the   
young girls' singing, and she turned back to Becca, a dainty,   
quiet little girl, who was drawing her a picture of a monkey.  
"ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT GENTLY DOWN THE--"  
"SHUT UPP!!!!!" Brianna's beet-red face glowed   
brillantly with frustration, "I'm going to throw BOTH   
of you into a stream if you DON'T-STOP-SINGING!"  
Two sets of lips trembled slightly, and Serena   
stood up, ready to do battle with the Wicked Witch of   
the Wealthy. Before she could speak, however, she heard it.  
"Oh no..." She turned behind her to face the   
inevitable. The two small girls who had been singing   
were now sniffling quietly. From three weeks of   
volunteering, Serena knew sniffles were the   
stillness before a tornado...the calm before   
the storm...  
She closed her eyes and cringed.   
'3...2...1...'  
"WAHHHH!!!!" They screamed, tears trailing   
down their chocolate-y faces.  
"Now, look what you've done!" Serena gathered   
the girls into her lap, rocking them.  
"Sshh...she didn't mean it. Brianna is just a   
little upset because we wouldn't stop for her 10:00   
hair appointment," She looked pointedly at Brianna.  
"What? You think I just wake up with this   
perfect hair?" She fluffed her fiery mane.  
After a few minutes of comforting solace in   
Serena's care, the girls were contentedly sucking   
lolli-pops (compliments of Serena's own secret stash)   
and playing with barbies.  
  
Sighing, Serena plopped into her seat. As she   
reached beneath her seat for her Teen Magazine, two   
foreign legs that she hadn't remembered being there   
before startled her.  
"What are you doing?" She asked.  
Darien looked up from his newspaper, "What does   
it look like I'm doing?"  
"It looks like your taking up space in my SPACE,"   
Her temper flared.  
"Would you mind talking to me when you decide to   
actually make sense?" He turned back to his paper, "If   
you must know, Adam decided to take his morning nap in   
my seat while I removed a wad of gum from Lexi's hair."  
"Who was the culprit this time?" She asked.  
"The twin masterminds, who else?" He nodded to a   
few seats in front of him.  
Serena laughed slightly as Timmy and Tommy   
high-fived eachother. Their target, Melinda, was not   
amused, however, and gasped as she removed a slobbery  
wad of paper from her lap.  
"Timmy! Tommy! I'm telling!" She stood up and   
trotted back to Darien and Serena.  
"Sewena! Look what they thwew at me!" She held   
the disgusting paper with her index finger and thumb   
dangerously close to Serena's nose. Serena leaned back   
in her seat to avoid the spitball's path towards   
her face.  
Smiling, Serena whispered into Melinda's ear and   
chuckled as she skipped back to her seat.  
"What did you tell her?" Darien asked.  
"Nothing..." She smiled, turning back to her   
"How Can You Tell If He Wants Your Best Friend?" quiz.  
  
About ten seconds later....  
  
"EEWWW!" Timmy extracted a ball of dripping paper   
from his ear, and Serena laughed quietly from behind her   
magazine.  
Melinda stood indignantly, "That'll teach you to   
mess with me, you poopy-head!"  
Tommy laughed loudly, "Ah ha! Timmy got a spi-EWWW!"   
He peeled a slimy ball of his own from his cheek, "Yucky!"  
Serena giggled softly, covering her face with her   
magazine once again. Melinda sent her a toothy grin   
(all of 10, that is) and Serena winked.  
"You really are evil, aren't you?" Darien kept   
his eyes on the sports section of his paper.  
"You're one to talk. What are you doing here anyways?   
I've been volunteering here for a few weeks, and I've   
never seen *you* sliming around," She took large gulp   
of her Pepsi.  
Darien folded his paper in his lap, "I've been   
counseling for a while now. This is my first time counseling   
for this session, though."  
"Really...well kids don't really seem like your   
kinda thing," She said.  
Darien's lips pursed, "I do like kids...but the  
main reason I work here is because I used live at this   
orphanage," His tone was terminating, telling her that   
he would go no further in explanation.  
She swallowed and put on her headphones. The   
calming sounds of Blink 182 relaxed her tired mind and   
sent any inquiries she had about Darien's reply out   
the window. She raised the volume.  
The words in Darien's paper blurred together as   
the blasting music emitting from Serena's CD player   
intruded his thought process.   
"Do you mind?" Darien looked at her, taking notice   
of her closed eyes and bobbing head.  
Her eyes popped open, and she removed her headphones,   
letting the already blaring music sound throughout the bus.  
"What?" She flipped aimlessly through her magazine.  
"Your music--if you could even call it that--is too   
loud," He said.  
"What do you mean 'if you could even call it that'?"   
She crossed her arms, ready to do battle with anyone who   
dared insult Mark, Tom, or Travis.  
"Nothing other than the obvious," He replied.  
"Would you care to be a little more detailed than   
that?" She hit the STOP button.  
"Basically...your music is crap," His succint reply   
took her aback. Her ears reddened.  
"And like YOU would know good music?" Her teeth were   
gritted as he stared at her boredly.  
"Yeah, I would," He countered.  
"Well what do *you* listen to then?" She waited for   
his answer.  
"What else would I listen to, Meatball Head?" He   
looked at her, annoyed, "Music."  
He returned his eyes to his paper and she gave up   
on the entire fight, opting to return to her CD player.  
  
*At a pit-stop somewhere along the free-way...*  
  
"WAKE UP!!"   
"AAHH!!" Darien threw his forgotten newspaper into   
the air, jumping from his seat in surprise.  
Serena cackled loudly from her perch behind his seat.  
"Wake up, sleepy-head! We're taking a pit stop, and   
there won't be any good fire hydrants for you to use for   
at *least* another 20 miles," She gave him another   
mocking grin and bounced off the bus.  
Darien shook his head slightly, stretching away the   
traces of his short nap.  
"She's going to give me a heart attack one day..."  
"Dari-EN!" Brianna pounced into the seat beside him.   
'Unless she does first...'  
"Um...Brianna..." He attempted to sound as  
enthusiastic as she, but failed horribly, and looked   
longingly at the open door. Brianna, however, thought   
it was good enough, and squealed, latching herself on   
to his arm tightly.  
"Come on, silly, call me Bria! Now, I want you   
to buy me a drink. I'm dying of thirst, and all I have   
is Daddy's Visa. Gosh, I think I'm going to dehydrate,   
and dehydration just doesn't suit a lady of my stature   
at ALL..." She dragged him from the bus without   
further discussion.  
  
  
"Do you need any help, Chloe?" Serena knocked on   
the bathroom stall door where Chloe had been for the last   
10 minutes.  
"No, Serena, I'm almost finished. Joey let me have   
some of his slim-jim, and Miss Karen said that it would do   
this. Miss Karen sure is smart, isn't she, Serena?" Her   
excited voice echoed in the tiny stall.  
Serena gulped, "Um...she sure is, Chloe. Hurry up so   
we can get going, OK?"   
"Okay!"  
Plugging her nose, Serena exited the bathroom quickly   
and exhaled heavily as she leaned against a wall.  
"That was a *little* bit more than I needed to know,"   
she said breathlessly.  
In the back of her mind, her nerves were registering   
her parched throat slightly, and she fished through her   
purse for a loose dollar bill.  
As she rounded the corner to the vending area, a  
squeal startled her, sending the bill her trimphant hand   
had retrieved flying above her head. She waited for the   
escapee to float back to her palm and peered around the   
corner to take a more cautious approach of the owner of   
the sound residing directly behind it.   
  
"Oh, Darien *giggle* stop tickling me!" Brianna   
squirmed against Darien's searching hands.  
"But I'm not. I'm trying to get my *wallet* back,"   
Darien had one hand out-stretched towards her, and looked   
extremely uncomfortable, if not a bit agitated.  
"Oh, silly," She giggled once more, opening the   
wallet carefully, "Oh, Darien, you look so CUTE in this   
picture! You MUST work out...Darien? Darien, where'd   
you go?" She turned around in circles. Her exagerrated   
smile melted into a thin line of annoyance as she   
stepped into a wad of chewing gum while twisting   
around to find the attractive male whom had earlier   
stood in the rather vacant area in front of her.  
  
"Thanks," Darien leaned against the brick wall   
of the rest area, turning to his savior.  
Serena blew a wisp of blonde from her eyes and   
flashed a brief smile. "Don't mention it. As much as   
you annoy the hell out of me, her screeching was doing   
damage to my hearing," She let go of his arm, which   
was still firmly clasped in her hand.  
Darien ignored the shiver trailing up his spine,   
turning his eyes forward as if to accuse the mild   
breeze for such a reaction.  
Serena bit her lip slightly, and idly fiddled  
with her fingernails, "Yeah, well...um...we'd better   
get going then," she pushed off from the wall,   
scurrying towards the bus without further   
conversation.  
"Yeah..." Darien said to the space she had   
moments before occupied.  
  
  
  
  
  
The digital numbers on her watch informed her   
that it was well past 9:00. Campsite was another couple   
of hours away, at least.  
'I might as well do that summer reading for   
english class...' Serena mused.  
Her parents had assured her that if she passed   
all of her classes for the upcoming semester of her   
junior year and behaved properly, they would assist   
her in purchasing her first car. The word 'car' was   
motivation enough for her.  
Carefully, she reached over Darien's sleeping   
form for her bookbag. Biting her lip, her shaky hand   
paused hesitantly at his chest as if it were on a tour   
and the first exhibit was "The Essence of Ego". As   
she pushed on, she smiled at the thought in spite   
of herself. Once she felt the vinyl material of her   
bag beneath her fingers, she tugged slightly.   
With a few incoherent words, Darien shifted   
his position suddenly, grabbing her out-stretched   
arm against his chest like a stuffed animal.  
'Oh no...Ooooh no...'   
Serena tugged her arm slightly, but it refused   
to budge from his death grip. The dull, rythmic sounds   
of silent breathing and soft snores sounded around her.   
Sighing, she used her other hand to reach for her   
bookbag.   
The bookbag hovered over Darien's body, inches   
from hers, and she moved it closer.   
'Just a little bit...'  
"Ugh!" She grunted. Darien had pulled her other   
arm against him as well, and she clamped her mouth shut,   
listening for any sounds.  
"You alright back there, Serena?" Karen whispered   
from behind the steering wheel.  
Serena nodded conspicuously, and returned to the   
problem at hand. After a few more futile attempts to   
remove her arms, she sighed and sat back as best she   
could in her seat.  
'This is awkward...' She thought.  
In his deep sleep Darien's breaths were even and   
fluid. Serena could feel his beating heart beneath her   
pinned arms and found herself breathing in rythm with it.  
A car's headlights glared through the window,   
casting a flood of light against his face. The white   
light illuminated his sharp features, and his startling   
thick, black hair and eyelashes contrasted with it like   
night and day. Leaning closer, she furrowed her brow at   
a faded line sitting above his left eyebrow. The scar   
seemed to shout out at her, and she whipped her head   
back around to focus on other less...hypnotic objects.  
Her heart was beating rapidly, choosing to ignore   
her silent pleas to slow down. She swallowed hard,   
longing for her arms to be free when all the while   
wishing for them to remain like that for as long as   
possible.  
As her heart skipped again, she forced her eyes   
closed and willed sleep to lull her within its comforting   
grasp.  
  
Unfortunately, sleep clamped its arms shut and   
wouldn't budge, leaving Serena wide-awake and throroughly  
annoyed. Hesitantly, she drew her eyes back to Darien's   
face and leaned closer. The scar was barely visible   
with the limited amount of light emmiting from the   
night. She bent her head closer to it, her lips dry   
and seeking.  
'BOOM!'  
Serena's body bounced up from her seat, banging   
her head roughly on the over-head light. Darien roused   
from his slumber and stared around him, dazed.  
The bus jounced violently, screeching its tires   
and pushing him against the window while Serena held   
on with one hand gripped to her arm rest. As the bus   
stilled, Darien breathed out deeply and flipped on   
the light.   
"What happened?" His eyes focused on Serena,   
her head bent and her hand pressed firmly to her forehead.  
A round of grouchy voices filled the air.   
"Sewena, what happened?" They asked.  
Darien ignored the questions and tilted Serena's   
chin towards him.  
"Serena, are you OK?" He moved her hand from her   
forehead, gasping at the trickle of blood staining her  
porcelain skin.  
A silent trail of tears fell from her clear eyes.   
She wimpered slightly, trying her damndest not to cry   
in front of him. The last thing she needed was Darien   
telling her how much of a baby she was.  
"I'm fine," She said harshly, turning away from   
his curiously gentle hands.  
"Are you sure?" He wasn't convinced and looked   
on as she gingerly wiped the injured area with a tissue.  
She turned to him. "I'm *fine*," Her tone was as   
cool as ice, and he involuntarily shivered.  
"Alright...I was just--"  
"Darien! Oh, Darien, I was so terrified!" Brianna   
appeared beside their seat.  
"I'm going to go see what happened," Serena stood,   
gave Darien one more hard glance, and walked to the   
front, assuring the children that everything was fine   
along the way.  
Brianna plopped in to her vacant seat and   
latched herself to Darien's arm. Her giggles and   
stories of how her 'life flashed before her eyes   
and Darien Was in the center' reached Serena's   
retreating self and she scoffed.  
  
Karen looked slightly dazed when Serena   
knelt beside her seat. "Karen, are you alright?   
What happened?"  
"I-I don't know...I steered around a   
corner--the corner that leads to the main   
office of camp, and I think...Oh, God, I   
think I hit something!" She whipped her head   
to the front of the bus and leaned over the   
dashboard to peer into the night. Serena   
followed her eyes and squinted.   
Karen gasped loudly; her skin drained   
itself of color.  
"Is that...?" Karen whispered.  
Serena gulped, "Darien, we may need some   
help over here!" She twisted her head to make sure   
he heard her.  
Darien sighed out of relief at having an   
excuse to detatch himself from Brianna's grip,   
and quickly whisked past the few rows of seats   
to the front.  
"What's up? What happened?" He leaned against   
Karen's seat.  
"Someone's out there...I think we hit them,"   
Serena turned to him.  
Darien pushed himself against the dashboard   
and focused in on the thin outline of a body l  
ying on the ground.  
'Oh, damn...' He felt his nerves tighten.   
He turned to Karen and Serena's expectant eyes,  
and he ran his hands through his hair.  
"I'm going to go check it out," He opened   
the door.  
"Serena, go with him, would you? I need to   
check on the children," Karen rose and brushed   
past them to tend to the rucous occuring directly   
behind them.  
Serena bit her lip and nodded.   
Darien hopped from the last step and waited   
for Serena to follow suit. When she stood beside   
him, he walked to the front of the bus cautiously.  
"Oh, God..." Serena whispered behind him.  
The body, mangled and covered in a sticky   
maroon liquid, lay still on the graveled road.  
Darien inched closer it, lifting his hands   
to brush away a section of dark hair covering the   
person's face.  
He gulped and lifted the hair. Familiar   
amethyst eyes stared back at him, hollow and empty.   
The raven hair in his fingers suddenly felt alive,   
and he let it go quickly.  
"Darien...?"   
He could hear the fear in Serena's quivering   
voice and turned to her. Her azure eyes were filling   
rapidly with a wave of tears. He gripped her arm gently.  
"It's--it's Raye."   
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
ja!  
  
~Adrial~ 


	2. 2 Garlic Breath & Mr Clean

CH. 2---------------------------------------------  
  
He turned his eyes to hers which were spilling   
over with tears.  
"But...that can't be...possible," She knelt beside   
her friend, lifting back a lock of hair.  
"She's...she's de-"  
"GOTCHA!!!"   
"AHH!!!" Serena leapt into Darien's arms, screaming   
hysterically.  
Raye's eyes popped open, and she shook harshly with   
wild laughter.  
As Serena clung to Darien, she viewed the   
cackling girl--whom she had sworn been minutes before   
a corpse--disbelievingly. Her vision blurred with anger   
and aggravation, but before she could act on her   
thoughts, two murky creatures entered the scene,   
laughing as well.   
Serena slowly let her grip on Darien's neck   
loosen, and he gasped for breath. She ignored   
his ragged breathing and stepped closer to the   
"swamp things."  
In a circle of murky brown mud, two clear,   
green eyes poked out at her. Their owner clutched   
its stomach, bending over in its hysterical laughter.  
"LITA?!" Serena fell back in her shock. The   
muddied person standing next to Lita wiped a layer of   
mud from her face, letting her sapphire eyes shine   
through.  
"Don't forget about me!" Mina seemed irritated   
that Lita was getting all her attention.  
"What...why--HOW did you get here?" Serena's   
eyes focused on the body that was no longer dead. She   
gritted her teeth and let out an inaudible growl.  
"Raye! I should *really* run over you for doing   
that to me!" She made a jump for her but was held back   
by a pair of strong arms she'd forgotten were there   
before.  
"Let me go, Darien! I need to have a little   
talk with my FRIEND!" Serena writhed within his grasp,   
but to no avail, "I can do it nice and quick. It's   
just like in that movie Double Jeopardy, right? Everyone   
already thinks she's dead, so if you just let-me-GO--"  
"Would someone please explain before Meatball   
Head goes crazy?" Darien strained against Serena's   
writhing body and pinned her flailing arms behind   
her back.  
Lita cleared her throat and stepped forward,   
hands drawn behind her back. "We would like to welcome   
you to Camp Kiwachee!"  
"Huh...?" Serena stopped flailing and took on a   
some-what dumbfounded look.  
"This is your initiation as a counselor, Sere!" Mina   
exclaimed, "They do it every year to the new counselors,   
DUH," Her muddy hands were placed on her hips.  
"But, since when have you been counseling here?"   
Serena inquired.  
"Since yesterday," Raye supplied from her position   
safely behind Lita. She would take no chances of Serena   
making good on her threat.  
Mina removed a dripping twig from her ear and   
stuck her tongue out disgustedly. As she continued to   
de-twig her self, she mumbled to Serena, "Yeah, my mom   
knows this guy, who knows her cousin, who knows his   
best friend's brother's girlfriend's sister's nephew   
who works here part-time."  
*cricket*  
Her eyes flicked around, seeing the stupor   
on her friend's faces. "Alright, let me try that   
again. This guy got us the jobs, and even though   
*we're* new counselors, too, they let us do the   
initiation thingy on you guys! Isn't that great?"  
Mina started to giggle again, "They   
usually TP their bunks and everything, but we   
figured we'd use the element of surprise since   
you didn't know we would be here, and what better   
way than to make you think you ran over RAYE?"   
She paused to laugh, "Kind of ingenious, if you   
ask me." Obviously she had been the blonde   
behind the operation.  
"Yeah, we wanted to spend time with the kids,   
too. Plus, Grandpa's holding a martial arts class   
right across the lake," Raye--feeling more brave   
now that Serena was being held back by Darien--stated.  
"Not to mention the four HOTTEST guys in the   
ENTIRE world are working as senior counselors," Lita   
closed her eyes and sighed. Suddenly, she remembered   
who was holding Serena back and smiled mischeviously,   
"Oh, don't worry, Sere, Darien's all yours."  
Serena let her body go limp in Darien's grasp,   
and his eyebrows raised at Lita's remark. Serena   
untangled her arms from Darien's and folded them across   
her chest. "Alright, so let's say I buy all this," She   
eyed the culprits, "Then where is Amy? And don't think   
I didn't hear that, Lita, because I did, and you'll be   
paying *dearly* for it later," She smiled sweetly   
through gritted teeth.  
"Whew, what have you been feeding her, Darien?   
Cannibal vitamins?" Lita held up her hands in an 'I   
surrender' manor, and shied from Serena's menacing glare.  
Mina smacked her forehead and gasped.  
"Oh, crap! I forgot all about Amy! Lita go get   
the scissors, hurry!" Mina commanded and turned back   
to Serena, "You know Amy. She was dead set against   
this whole thing from the start, so we had to sort   
of keep her...occupied, if you will."  
"Be right back, you two!" Mina and Lita zoomed   
off, quickly followed by Raye.  
  
"Un...believable," Darien murmured.  
"Tell me about it," She massaged her aching   
shoulders, "Did you have to hold me so tight? My   
arms are killing me now."  
He shrugged and turned back to the bus, "I'm   
gonna go tell Karen that everything's fine, and that   
she might want to make sure this camp has good insurance.   
Those girls will probably burn the place down before   
two weeks is up."  
"You do that...I'll just stay here and plot   
my friends' deaths." Visions of throwing Raye over a   
cliff floated casually in her mind, and she rubbed   
her hands together deviously.  
"Heh heh heh...hey! What do you think   
you're--OW!" She squirmed as Darien draped her   
over his shoulder and carried her to the bus.  
"*You* are coming with *me* before you kill   
somebody," He replied.  
  
  
*Lunchtime the next day*  
  
  
"Are we going to be forced to eat this pathetic   
excuse for food for an ENTIRE week?" Green eyes viewed   
a forkfull of spaghetti disgustedly, and Brianna let   
the steaming noodles slide from her fork and plop   
ungracefully on to her plate.   
Serena rolled her eyes but instantly sobered.   
Her famished tummy was getting rather annoyed at its   
only partially filled self and wasted no time in   
rumbling its disapproval. Swooping her eyes across   
Brianna's full plate of pasta, she licked her   
hungry lips and smiled sweetly.  
"I'll have it!" Her greedy hands fumbled for   
her plate, snatching it cleanly and toppling its   
contents onto her empty one.  
Brianna sniffed and narrowed her eyes at Serena's   
munching mouth. "Honestly, you'd think they would be   
able to keep stray animals out of camp quarters. I'll   
just have to call Daddy about getting better animal   
control out here," She 'tsked' thoughtfully and slid   
from her seat, swinging her hips invitingly as she   
passed Darien and whisked out the mess hall door.  
"Whoa, who pissed her in her corn flakes this   
morning?" Lita mumbled against a mouthful of bread.   
Darien stifled his laugh and downed the rest of   
his coke. Across from him, Kyle, a fellow senior counselor,   
raised his eyebrows toward the door Brianna had moments   
before disappeared through and looked at Darien   
speculativley. Darien shrugged his shoulders dismissively   
and focused on Serena. She obviously hadn't heard   
Brianna's smart remark and was happily cleaning   
her fork as Mina stood to leave.  
"Time for kiddy-room patrol!" She lifted her   
plate and beckoned for the other girls to join her.   
As a part of camp regulations, each camper's bunk   
had to be at least partially habitable or said   
camper would be suspended from participation in   
arts and crafts--a favorite of most--for one day.   
Raye stood so fast that the table shook. "Yes,   
well I guess we have to go then. Those kids sure are   
um...messy...yeah, let's go, girls," Her hair whooshed   
past them, sending a slight breeze across the table.  
Disappointed blue eyes followed her. Her odd   
behavior had been driving Jason up a wall the entire   
day. He inconspicuously puffed a cloud of air into his   
hand to check his breath--slightly garlic-y, but otherwise   
not too hazardous. He silently wondered if he'd remembered   
to put on deodorant that morning.  
"What's up with Raye?" Lita inquired,   
swatting a hand from her arm. Matt furrowed his   
brown eyebrows and feigned hurt. Lita patted   
his head and rose.  
"Who knows, all I care about is getting   
this over with so we can FINALLY have some fun   
with the kids. All this first day boringness   
is getting to me," Serena hopped from the bench   
and waved goodbye to the five males, save for   
Darien who she was still at odds with over an   
earlier bout about her infamous tardiness.  
  
"Ah, Meatball Head's late as usual.   
Did you fall down the stairs again or are you   
aiming for a world record in tardiness?"  
"Nope, just hoping that you'd be GONE by   
the time I got here."  
"Ooh, harsh."   
"Ooh, asshole."  
"Launguage, languge."  
"Shove it, shove it."  
"Looks like you do enough of that for the   
both of us, huh?"  
  
"You coming, Ames? We all know how much   
the kids love it when *you* check their bunks,"   
Serena giggled mockingly. Amy always seemed to   
have her white glove handy when it came to   
checking a room's cleanliness. That morning   
she had kept Timmy and Tommy in their rooms   
for all of After Breakfast T-ball scrubbing   
their bedposts free of silly putty and   
play-doh.  
Amy raised her head far enough to send   
a glare in Serena's direction before rising.  
"I could help!" Zach, a tall male with blonde   
hair and light green eyes, shot up and smiled exuberantly   
at the blue haired teen's blushing face.   
Amy seemed unsure of how to reply and   
sent a longing glance at her friends' retreating   
backs.   
"U-um...no, that's--that's OK," Her mouth   
slid easily into an appreciative grin and she   
moved towards the door.   
Zach, however, blocked her path. "Are you   
sure? Because I, for one, firmly believe that a   
cleanly room is a friendly room," His pearly   
teeth practically blinded her as he waited   
expectantly.  
Behind him a muffled grunt sounded giving   
Amy an excuse to focus her eyes on anything   
other than the intruding ones eyeing her   
intently.  
Matt cleared his throat, "Oh, um...s-sorry,   
must've sw-swallowed that the wrong way," He pursed   
his lips to conceal the laughter aching to be   
unleashed.   
Kyle's face remained rigid, the confines   
of his self-restraint almost at their breaking   
point. It wasn't everyday Zach Kiner made a   
total ass out of himself around a girl.  
Darien turned his head from Amy's pleading   
gaze. From what he gathered, Zach tended to come   
on a bit too strongly when he liked a girl, and   
Amy wasn't one to know how to react to his   
outgoing nature.  
Turning her eyes back to Zach's, Amy smiled   
slightly. "That's okay, really, the girls and I   
can handle it. See you later," She brushed past   
Zach's disappointed frown and through the nearest   
exit.  
Zach sighed and plopped backwards on the   
bench, using the edge of the table for support.   
"I don't get it," He ran a flustered hand through   
his cropped, blonde hair.  
"'I, for one, firmly believe that a cleanly room   
is a friendly room.' What the HELL were you thinking,   
Kiner?" Matt rewarded him with sound smack on his head.  
Zach rubbed the stinging section of his   
skull and glared maliciously at Matt's mocking   
smirk. "What?"   
"Do I have something in my teeth?" Jason   
stretched his lips as far left and right as he   
could without rendering any permanent damage.  
Four heads turned to him and stared.   
Jason backed up slightly. "What? I do?!   
Damn, no wonder Raye was freaking out all morning.   
I'd been hitting on her with spaghetti in my   
teeth." He rubbed his front teeth roughly   
and stood.  
"I gotta go brush, and by the way, Zach,   
nice move with Amy there. I really think you're   
warmin' up to her. She might even let you make   
her bed. Chances are that's *all* you're gonna   
get to do there anyway."  
"You want me to serve you your teeth on   
a silver platter, Jay?" Zach smiled menacingly   
at Jason and watched him recoil.   
"Chill, Mr. Clean, all I'm saying is that   
you gotta lay off the heavy junk you're using on   
her. You're just scaring her off."   
On that philosophical note, Jason fled the   
scene before Zach had a chance to counter his Mr. Clean   
remark and headed for the pool.  
Swimming lessons were beginning that   
afternoon and a graveyard of insects was currently   
residing in the sickly green waters of the pool.   
He silently figured that a few bottles of blue   
food coloring would solve the slight coloration   
problem. Besides, didn't kids like green gooey stuff?  
  
"You know, he's right. Amy's not like   
the girls you're used to. She's...different," Darien   
offered to Zach after Jason disappeared through the door.   
He began to clear his place.  
"What? Did you date her or something?" Zach's   
defenses were rising as he spoke, and he readied himself   
to break the steady ties that were forming between   
Darien and him in order to protect his chances   
with Amy.  
Darien immediately recognized the signs of   
suspicion arising in Zach's eyes and laughed it off.   
"We didn't date. I've just been around her and the   
girls for a while. Don't worry about it."   
Zach relaxed and sat back in his seat again.   
"Yeah, you were probably too busy tryin' to get   
Serena alone, huh?" He smirked.  
"I have no clue what you're talking about,"   
Darien walked towards the door, tossing his paper   
plate into the garbage as he passed.  
Zach and Kyle followed suit. "Sure you don't,"   
Zach clapped him on his shoulder and walked off.   
He needed time to tone down his approach if he   
ever wanted a chance with Amy.  
He left Darien and Kyle in an uncomfortable   
silence. The tension emitting from Kyle's presence  
was driving Darien crazy as he tried to sort through   
his own muddled thoughts. The counselor's quarters had   
long since passed by them, and all previous intentions   
of visiting Karen were left in its wake.   
His eyes were cast ahead, focusing on   
nothing in particular but the image forming in   
his mind. The meatballs he had earlier scarfed   
down were taking on an odd golden color, and   
the spaghetti attatched to them were also   
changing, flowing out...  
"All right, I'm dying here. You have GOT to   
tell me how to get Mina," Kyle grabbed Darien's shoulders   
roughly and jerked.  
"Come on, I know you know about her. You said   
you've been around her, right? Give me something to   
work with, here, Dare," He plead pathetically. Mina's   
carefree personality had shocked him unexpectedly,   
and continued to chip away at his secluded character   
ever since breakfast.  
Darien wriggled from his grasp, "You guys really   
don't know who you're dealing with here, you know,"   
he laughed.  
Kyle's shoulders slumped, and he frowned.   
"What do you mean?"  
Darien sighed as if it were already blatantly  
obvious, "The girls are...they just aren't...you'll   
have to see for yourselves. They're like a colt or   
something. You hurt one of them and the rest will be   
after you. It's weird. I still get chills whenever   
Lita looks at me after I make fun of Serena," He   
involuntarily shivered.  
Kyle's features shifted from confused to   
elated, and he broke out triumphantly, "So that's   
it! All I have to do is get in good with the rest   
of them," He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "That   
way, Mina will have to give me a chance," He   
slapped Darien's shoulder, "Thanks for the   
info, Chiba."   
Darien only stared as Kyle ran off,   
probably to begin sucking up to the girls.   
He smiled inwardly. With Andrew across seas   
visiting Rita, he'd been without a reliable   
source of male friendship for a month now,   
and Jason, Kyle, Matt, and Zach were obscene,   
grotesque, loved football, and considered   
burping to be an olympic event.   
They were great.  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
Ta da!  
  
You guys seriously need to get a MOVE ON w/ the   
reviews! :D I need inspiration...purpose for writing...  
a nice shove in the ass, you know what I'm sayin?  
  
I have a tendency to become preoccupied..wouldn't want  
*that* to happen now would we?   
  
*TGP14 is still in the works, I'm sorry for the wait!*  
  
--Adrial  
  
Adrial_06@yahoo.com 


	3. 3 Bull Frogs & Sexual Assault

Camp Kiwachee  
Chapter 3: Bull Frogs & Sexual Assault  
Author: Adrial  
Ch. 3-------------------------------------------  
"Let me help you with that, Serena," Kyle smiled   
charmingly at Serena as she struggled beneath an armful   
of boxes.  
She returned his grin and stretched her sore   
muscles as the heavy weight was lifted effortlessly   
from her grasp.  
"Thanks, Kyle," She turned around to help Amy   
hang streamers along the walls. To celebrate the camp's   
twenty year anniversary, Karen had organized a small party   
for the children. The counselors, however, were doing   
the brunt of the work while Karen took the kids on a   
two-day campout along with three other volunteers   
from the orphanage in order for the party to be a   
surprise.  
Kyle craned his neck slightly to make sure Mina   
had seen his act of kindness toward Serena and frowned   
at her as her eyes were cast downward at her clipboard.  
Alright, then...who's next? He thought.  
Lita was checking off a list of food to bring.  
No assistance required.   
Raye flipped through a stack of CD's, sighing   
every now and then despondently.  
Not too good with chick problems.   
He set the boxes aside and saught out his   
bestfriend's crush. Amy, Amy...where is she?   
Perfect. Amy seemed to be rather entangled   
with decorations and Serena was only cackling madly   
at her.   
"Here, Amy, let me get those," He gallantly   
offered her his arm as she stepped down from her   
ladder and assisted her in untwisting the streamers   
from her arms and legs.  
Blushing slightly, she thanked him for his   
help and nudged Serena's leg, making her wriggle   
to stay on her ladder.  
"Amy!" Serena grabbed for any type of ledge  
but found none. Instead, she found herself tightly   
held in Kyle's arms.  
"Wow, nice catch, Kyle," She giggled as he   
set her on the floor.  
From behind them, Mina growled frustratedly  
and stomped out of the door. Kyle followed her   
retreating back with discouraged grey eyes.   
Serena arched her eyebrows and shrugged at   
Lita's confused frown.  
"She must have forgotten something up at   
counselor quarters," Amy offered.  
"I guess so..." Serena looked at the door   
Mina disappeared through and then at Raye's elusive   
frown. Something was definitely up with her friends.  
"Hey, let's call it quits for tonight, guys.   
We can finish up tomorrow while the kids are still   
on their hiking thing," Lita set her clip board on   
a stool and stretched. The guys nodded enthusiastically,   
dropping their handfuls of pink streamers as if   
they were on fire.  
"Oh, darn, did I miss the decorating party?"   
Brianna appeared in the doorway and sarcastically   
smiled.  
"Don't worry about it. We were actually   
doing fine with*out* you," Serena balled up a   
wad of tissue paper.  
"Well, I wouldn't have been much help   
anyway. I've never had to...hang things before,"   
She peered up at the elaborately decorated walls   
and crinkled her nose, "Daddy always said a lady   
should never do anything the highered help could   
take care of."  
"Oh, really? Is that what *daddy* says?"  
Serena forced a smile and turned her back on Brianna's  
snobby face. After selflessly giving up her fifteen   
minutes in the bathroom for Brianna to dry her hair  
perfectly, and keeping quiet at the numerous insults   
about her hair, makeup, clothing, and music taste,   
Serena was at a breaking point.   
"Darien! Darling, *where* have you been all  
day? I've been meaning to ask you something,"   
Brianna's mini skirt inched up and down her thighs   
as she sauntered around clusters of empty boxes   
to Darien. Her chunky platforms clunked loudly   
on the wooden floors. Darien cowered slightly and   
forced a small smile.  
"Uh...what is it, Bria?" He inwardly cringed   
at the name she insisted he call her. He figured it   
had to be better than 'Bria-baby' which she had only   
hinted about earlier.  
"Well, Daddy has arranged a limo for me and a   
*guest*," She ran her finger along his exposed collar   
bone, "To go to our private reservoir at our summer   
mansion. I would just *love* it if you'd go with me   
tomorrow afternoon," She was inches from his face   
now, fluttering her thickly mascaraed eyes at him   
and sending Jason and Zach into muffled hysterics.  
Darien gulped and put a good three feet in   
between Brianna and himself.   
"Uh...well, actually, the guys and I are   
going to...to do more decorating, right guys?" He   
sent them a pleading gaze and they straightened.   
Jason, who had been attempting to initiate   
conversation with Raye all night, looked up   
and shook his head.  
"I don't remember that," He turned his   
eyes back to Raye's bowed head.  
Darien glared at him and turned back to   
Brianna, laughing nervously, "You remember, *don't*   
you, Kyle?" Kyle weighed his options. Spend the   
afternoon knee deep in streamers, or spend his   
time wisely by buttering up Mina's friends.   
Decisions, decisions.   
"Sorry, can't. I've got some things to do,"   
He clapped him apologetically on his shoulder and   
left the room.  
"Me, too, Dare," Zach thought of his plans   
for the following morning and grinned inwardly.   
Everything had to be perfect...absolutely perfect.  
Brianna grinned ecsatically, "Great! You're   
free for tomorrow then! My chauffer will pick us up   
at twelve tomorrow, don't be late," She pecked his   
cheek and exited.  
Lita and Serena exchanged glances and burst   
out laughing. Lita leaned against Serena's shoulder   
for support, and they fell as Serena's knees buckled   
underneath her.  
"Oh, D-darien da-darling," Serena rolled   
onto her back and continued laughing. After a few   
minutes of hysteria, Lita controlled her laughter   
and rose, helping Serena up as well.  
"Feel free to shut up any time now," Darien   
folded his arms over his chest. Having them laugh   
at him was already bad enough, now he would have   
to deal with the guys, too.  
"You sure are a ladies man, Dare," Zach   
clapped his shoulder.  
"I'm going to bed now," Darien left abruptly.  
"Don't be late tomorrow, darling!" Serena   
called after him.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
*12:00 AM--Girl's Bunk*  
  
Enemy: Bull Frog  
Victim: Serena Tsukino  
Victim's Condition: Awake  
Plan of action: Kill said bull frog  
  
"Shut up already!" Serena threw her covers   
from her bed. The frog had been announcing its presence   
outside of her window for the past hour and seemed   
to have no intention of relenting.  
The others were sleeping soundly in their bunks,   
teasing her with their contented snores and whimpers   
of slumber.  
"That's it," She slid quietly from her bunk and   
grabbed a flashlight. She would find the frog and chase   
it to the ends of the earth if she had to in order to   
get some sleep.  
Once outside, she took large gulps of the cool   
night air and sighed. Sleeping in an area without street   
lights and noisy car horns proved quite difficult to grow   
accustomed to. She'd take a herd of rambunctious car horns   
over a bull frog any day.  
"Where are you? I *know* you're out here," She pulled   
her pajama bottoms up slightly to avoid getting them   
muddy and rounded a corner.  
'Ribbit.'  
"I can heearr you. Come out, come out wherever   
you--AHH!" A hand flew across her opened mouth, and another   
pulled her away. She struggled in the foreign arms and   
tried to free herself.  
The person let her go after traveling a about twenty  
yards or so away from the girl's bunks.  
"Serena, it's me, calm down," He whispered against   
her ear. Her writhing body stilled and she remained quiet   
as he removed his hand from her mouth.  
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO DO, CHI--mmph" Darien's   
hand flew against her mouth again and he pulled her farther   
from the camp.  
"Would you just stop yelling?" He inched his hand from   
her mouth again.  
She inhaled sharply and turned from his arms. She calmed   
herself down and whispered, "Are you trying to scare the hell   
out of me, or what?"   
"Not exactly," He stuffed his hands in his pockets and   
walked away from her. She stood still for a moment before   
following behind him.  
"Where are you going?" She fell into step with him.  
"No where. What are you doing up?" He glanced at her.  
"Nothing. You have to be going somewhere," She stepped in   
front of him.  
He sighed and tried to go around her, but she still   
blocked him.  
"I'm going to the lake, alright?" He gave up and   
she smiled. The moonlight glittered off her eyes and   
Darien forced his own to stray away from them.   
"Can I come? I can't sleep either," She let him   
walk past her again.  
"Do whatever you want, Meatball Head," He ducked   
beneath a large, hanging branch and held it aside   
for her to pass.  
The placid waters of Lake Kiwachee loomed   
ahead of them. The pesky bull frog had long since   
been forgotten, and Serena sat on a log along the shore.  
Darien joined her and stared off into the   
distance, deep in thought. Her presence was taunting  
him but he, of course, wouldn't admit that to himself.  
Serena shivered slightly as a breeze blew   
around her, sending a chill up her spine. A movement   
beside her brought her eyes up and she gasped inaudibly   
as Darien wrapped his jacket around her shoulders.  
"Thank you," She wrapped it tighter around her   
bare arms and pondered the odd sense of comfort it   
provided.  
A long silence followed, and she grew steadily   
tense. Darien's eerie silence was driving her insane.  
"What are you thinking about?" She turned to his   
face.  
He shook himself from his thoughts and turned to   
meet her eyes.   
Big mistake.   
His jacket enveloped her tiny frame almost   
completely, and her large eyes danced with curiosity.   
He noticed her hair for the first time, flowing down   
her shoulders freely, and wondered if it felt as soft   
as it looked.  
"Nothing," He involuntarily smiled at her,   
"What are you thinking about?"  
"You," She responded quietly. Instantly, she   
felt a crimson wave wash over her face and she stuttered,   
"Uh...I mean, I was just wondering what you were   
thinking and everything...you know."   
Darien recovered from his state of shock at her   
answer and leaned close to her ear.  
"I know," His hot breath against her ear sent   
her emotions into a craze and she swallowed.  
He seemed satisfied at her response to his   
teasing and decided to let her make the next move,   
whatever it may be.  
Serena racked her brain for something to say,   
something to respond to that with. Her only thoughts   
were to sit there, dumbfounded, and giggle madly.  
Giggle?  
Why would she want to...giggle? Had Darien   
really made her feel like that? Were the emotions she   
was feeling a result from him? Suddenly the light,   
night air became thick with tension and she felt   
like she was suffocating within it all. She stood   
abruptly and turned to face him.  
"I don't get you...I just don't," With that,   
she stalked away from him, steaming with frustration.   
Now she surely would never get to sleep. It   
was only the second day of camp and Darien had   
managed to invade her thoughts completely.  
  
  
Her words startled Darien and he remained   
still for a few moments, rolling them over in his   
clustered mind.  
A cry broke his thought process and he   
launched himself into the woods, searching blindly   
for the source.   
Through the enveloping darkness, he searched   
blindly. A choked sob to his right startled him and   
he whipped around. Serena lay on the ground, crying   
almost silently and he lifted her carefully into   
his arms without hesitation. One glance at his   
surroundings informed him that she had forgotten   
about the hanging tree limb and ran straight into it.  
The log at which they had earlier sat was   
closer than camp so he backtracked and set her   
onto it gently.  
Her eyes were cloudy from the collision   
and he brushed a clutter of hair from her face.   
Tears glistened on her skin and he vowed to turn   
the limb that had caused them into firewood as   
soon as possible.  
"Are you okay?" He felt a wave of déjà vu and   
prayed that the outcome wouldn't be as it was before.   
"No," Serena sniffled and gingerly touched her   
cheek. A swollen area was forming.  
"This is all your fault, you know," She stared   
at the lake as she spoke.  
Darien grew defensive, "How is it my fault?"   
"I'm not sure yet, give me a minute to think   
about it," She stood and walked away closer to the   
water's edge, leaving a trail of bitter cold in her wake.  
He pondered whether or not to follow her for a   
moment. She sat on the moist earth and threw a rock   
into the lake. Her silhouette seemed too picturesque   
to disturb. Eventually, however, his emotions got   
the better of him and he trudged silently towards   
her.  
He stopped inches from her and hesitated.   
What would he do?  
"Aren't you going to say it?" She spoke   
suddenly. He jumped slightly and covered the short   
distance to her.  
"Say what?" He sat beside her.  
"How much of a klutz I am...how ditzy I can   
be--" She broke off, tears covering any other words   
she might have said.  
He did the only thing he could and reached   
around her to gather her in his arms. She did not   
resist and leaned against him.  
Her silent tears cracked his heart, joining   
in with the mental beating he was giving himself for   
causing her pain.  
Serena's feelings were mixed as she felt so   
utterly calm and comfortable in her enemy's arms.   
Her tears were only partly because of his insults,   
but mainly her all-consuming confusion about the   
man that held her so gently.  
Her ears only vaguely registered his whispered  
apology. She lifted her head from his shoulder and   
stood.  
"I'm going back to bed," She removed his   
jacket from her shoulders and laid it softly into   
his arms. One more minute beside him and she would have   
done something she would probably have regretted--  
either slap him or kiss him. She wouldn't take her   
chances with either one.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The clinking of forks on plates and the occasional   
cough were the only sounds emitting from the 11 people   
seated in the mess hall the next morning.  
Serena kept her head bowed, refusing to make   
eye contact with Darien. He did the same but found   
himself sending curious glances in her direction   
every now and then.   
Zach's restless eyes found themseleves landing   
on Amy's bowed head every few seconds. Her silence   
was bringing him to the breaking point of his sanity.   
His declaration of his feelings for her that morning   
had somehow worsened the condition of their relationship.   
She was now avoiding him at all costs and in the process,  
stressing him to no end.  
"You gonna eat that, Ames?" Serena looked longingly  
at Amy's barely touched blueberry muffin.  
Amy's eyes remained fixed on her plate, unmoving  
and obviously unaware of Serena's question.  
"Amy...?" Serena waved a hand in her face slowly.  
Amy came to attention abruptly and blushed becomingly.  
"Huh? Did you ask something?"   
Serena rose her eyebrows and repeated her question.   
She smiled happily as Amy plopped the muffin into her open   
palm.  
Mina played idly with her bowl of soggy cheerio's   
and wished to be anywhere other than at that table. She had   
been ready to regurgitate her orange juice when Kyle had   
enthusiastically complimented Lita on her hair that morning   
and almost shoved her spoon down her own throat when he   
politely offered Amy his own seat at the table.  
Kyle smiled widely at Serena and held out his own muffin  
for her to take. Mina watched with agitated eyes.  
He should smiling at ME like that!  
Serena's eyes flicked over to Mina and apologized   
silently. Mina shrugged nonchalantly and stood to clear her   
place.  
Darien looked up at the sudden movement coming from   
beside him and returned his eyes to his plate when he realized   
it was only Mina.   
Brianna sat on his other side with a frown that seemed   
to be permanently stuck on her face. Unbeknownst to her fellow  
counselors, her evil mind was churning silently. She smiled   
suddenly and conspicuously knocked her fork on the ground.  
"Oh, silly me," She giggled and reached her hand under   
the table slowly.  
"HEY!" Darien exclaimed, leaping out of his seat with   
a speed that shook the table and knocked Jason's half empty   
(or half full) glass of milk all over Raye's plate and lap.   
She gasped and stood quickly, patting off her legs and   
shirt with a bunch of napkins.  
"Here, let me help you Raye," Jason smiled apolegetically   
and started to wipe up the milk on her shirt.  
Damn, now you've done it, Jay.  
"No, allow me, Raye," Kyle smiled charmingly and began to   
wipe the white liquid off of her arms.  
Jason resisted the urge to growl at his friend, "I've got  
it, KYLE."  
Kyle narrowed his eyes, "I insist, JAY."   
They were now tugging at Raye's arms and shirt roughly,   
having forgotten that she was still *attatched* to them. Raye   
swayed back and forth, heating up with annoyance with each   
passing second.  
"JUST LET-ME!" She growled and shoved away from them.  
With a huff, she whirled around and out of the mess hall.  
Lita watched her go and stood quickly, "I better go and check  
on her."  
Matt gave her a goofy grin before she left, and she   
laughed as she disappeared through the door as well.  
He seemed to be the only one left at the table that was  
NOT having some sort of emotional melt down, save for Brianna, who   
was scowling at Darien as he promptly began to clear his place.  
Serena tried not to respond to Bria's obvious attempts to   
seduce (or sexually assault) Darien and focused on her friends'   
romantic blunders.  
"I'm outta here," Jason stood and threw his plate away,  
followed closely by Mina.  
"I'm gonna head for the showers before the kids get   
back," She said and paused to wait for Amy and Serena to finish   
clearing their places.  
Kyle and Darien were soon to follow. Brianna tugged on   
Darien's arm along the way, giggling madly and drowning him with   
descriptions of what a "Fabulous time" they'd have on her   
Daddy's private yaht.  
He smiled tightly from beside her.  
If she keeps this up, I'm going to throw myself   
overboard.  
  
Alone at the table, Matt laughed to himself and then   
scowled suddenly, throwing down his napkin.  
"And look who gets stuck with decorating duty."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"This one?"  
"Whatever."  
"This one?"  
"I don't care."  
"What about that one?"  
"Mmm hmm."  
"RAYE!"  
"Wha- huh?" Raye's unfocused eyes blinked   
a few times and turned to the person she forgot  
was standing beside her.  
"Are you even paying attention?" Lita's arms   
were crossed over her chest and she stood amidst a   
sea of Raye's clothing.  
"Um, yeah, of course. You can borrow my lotion,"   
Raye turned back to the window of the girl's bunk   
room. The children would be returning in a couple   
of hours and while the guys were finishing the   
decorations, the girls were cluttered in their   
bunks searching for something to wear.  
Lita threw a shirt on the floor and steered   
around a mountain of jeans to plop down next to Raye  
on her bunk.  
"What's up, Raye? You've been acting weird ever   
since we got here," She placed a comforting hand on   
Raye's back.   
Raye forced a casual smile and shrugged,   
"Nothing really..." Her eyes flickered for a moment   
with indecision and Lita frowned.  
"Do you wanna talk about it?" She offered.   
Raye shook her head, "No, I'm fine, Lita,   
really--just a little homesick I guess."  
Lita didn't buy it. Not only was Raye the most   
excited about coming, save for Mina, but she had   
been the one to convince Lita to come as well.  
She carefully chose her next words, "Is this   
about Jason?" Better to be blunt, right?  
Raye sat up straight on her bed and violently   
shook her head, "No...no way, why would it be? Here,   
let me find that lotion for you," She scooted off and   
plopped onto the floor, rummaging through a stack of   
jeans for her bottle of lotion.  
Lita smiled secretly and picked up a bottle from   
the shelf by Raye's bed.  
"Here," She handed it to her.  
Raye let go of the armful of jeans she was holding   
and grabbed it from her.  
"OK, so what if it IS about him? It's not like I   
like him or anything. He's just a...a guy," She opened   
the bottle roughly and squeezed some onto her arm.  
"He's been driving you crazy ever since day one,   
hasn't he?" Lita took the bottle from her and sat beside   
her.  
Raye opened her mouth to protest but fell backward   
onto the pile of clothing instead.   
"Yes," She whimpered, "Make him stop it!"   
Lita laughed and pulled Raye into a sitting   
postion. "I'd love to, really I would, but I can't.   
You have to."  
Confusion clouded Raye's eyes, "How do you   
expect me to do that?"   
"Tell him," Lita said matter-of-factly as she   
folded a pair of jeans.  
"Tell him what?" Raye took the jeans from Lita's   
hands to get her full attention.   
"How you feel, duh," Lita looked quizzically at  
her, "I've never seen you so out of it, girl. Have you   
even spoken to him yet?"  
Raye bit her lip, "Well...not exactly. He keeps   
trying to talk to me but I just get all...tongue-tied.   
It's just not like me to do that," standing, she walked  
over to the other side of the room and began to search   
through her suitcase for nothing in particular.  
"That's a good sign," Lita came up behind her,   
"It means you really like him. Obviously, he's interested   
in you. Just tell him," She patted her back.  
"Easier said than done," Raye sighed.   
"That's love for ya," Lita rose and grabbed a   
discarded pair of jeans from a pile.  
Raye nodded dumbly and then gasped, "Wait...LITA!"   
Lita had disappeared through the door already,   
leaving a trail of hearty laughs behind her.  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Hand me that conditioner, Sere," Mina yelled over   
the noisy shower. A hand reached through the shower curtain   
with a plastic bottle and she grasped it.  
"So...Amy?" Serena ran a comb through her wet   
hair, wincing every time she hit a tangle.  
Amy set her brush down. "Hmm?"  
Serena paused to comb a knot out and turned   
back to her, "So...tell me about what happened today,   
already!"   
Amy jumped back slightly at her outburst and   
blushed. The events of that morning rolled back into   
her mind and she laughed.  
"Oh, that," She tried to stall.  
"Yes, that," Serena nudged her arm. Mina reached   
out from her shower and grabbed her yellow bathrobe.   
"What are we talking about?" She asked, having   
emerged from the shower.  
Serena nodded to Amy, "Amy was *just* about to   
tell us what happened this morning with her and Zach."   
Mina's baby blues widened and she giggled excitedly,   
"Oh, yeah! Come on, Amy, what happened?"   
Amy ran the brush through her hair for a moment   
before answering.  
"He...um..that is, we--"  
"He kissed you!" Serena exclaimed, jumping up and   
down in her elation.  
Amy's face was splashed crimson and she swatted   
Serena's arm.  
"No, he did *not*," She stated. Although, that  
would have been nice....  
Serena's happy bubble was bursted and she frowned.  
"Well then what?" Mina urged her to go on.  
"He told me some...things," She bit her lip.  
Mina sighed exasperatedly, "What *things*? He   
could have told you his favorite color was blue for   
all we know. You have to e-lab-or-ate."  
"He told me he liked me, okay? He told me he'd   
never liked anyone as much as me and he wanted to know   
if I felt the same," She inhaled sharply and cowered   
backwards. Serena and Mina exchanged glances and   
turned to her with mischevious smiles.  
"And you *said*..." They closed in on her.  
"I said I didn't know," Amy sighed.  
Mina opened her mouth wide, "You don't know?"   
Serena opened her mouth wider, "You-don't-know?"  
"I don't--I mean, I do...but--" She leaned   
against the sink and sighed.  
"You're scared?" Serena placed a hand on her arm.  
Amy nodded sullenly and turned to face the   
mirror. Her reflection stared back at her, same   
as always. Boring, lifeless, not anything like   
the girls she was sure Zach usually dated.  
"I'm afraid that I'm just not...good   
enough--pretty enough for him," She tore her   
eyes from the mirror.  
"Amy, I thought you were the *smart* one!"   
Mina exclaimed. Serena nodded fervently.  
"Amy, do you have any idea how pretty you   
are?" Serena pulled lightly on a strand of her   
navy hair.  
"Thanks, guys, but I don't need--"   
"What you *don't* need is to be lying to   
yourself," Serena wrapped her in a one-armed hug,   
"You are one of the prettiest people I know. You   
just need to have confidence in yourself."   
"Sere's right, Amy. I'd give anything to   
have your complexion. Do you *ever* get zits?"   
Mina laughed.  
Amy blushed and giggled softly, "Actually,   
I made this special formula in chem. class last   
year and it--"  
She was cut off as Serena and Mina began   
laughing loudly.  
"What?" She crossed her arms.  
"You...you're one of a kind, Amy," Serena   
patted her head, "Now, go and tell Zach how you   
*really* feel, or we'll do it for you," Serena   
and Mina eyed each other deviously and turned   
towards the door.  
Amy gasped and grabbed onto their arms.  
"No! No...I'll do it. PLEASE don't go   
anywhere NEAR Zach," She pushed past them   
and waved goodbye.  
"Ah...Mr. and Mrs. Clean," Mina sighed   
and turned back to the sink to comb out her dripping hair.  
Serena stared at her back for a moment   
and hesitated before speaking.  
"Hey...Mina?" She picked up her comb.  
Mina turned to her, "Yeah?"  
Twirling a piece of hair between her   
fingers, Serena glanced at her, "What happened   
with you in the mess hall last night?"  
Mina stopped mid-comb and sighed again,   
"It's nothing. I'm just a little stressed   
about...things."  
"Things?" Serena inquired.  
"Yes, things...people," Mina set her comb   
down.  
"People like...?" Serena set hers down as   
well and leaned against the wall.  
"Like you don't already know," Mina smiled   
at her.   
Serena laughed softly, "Well, yeah, *I* know.   
Do you?"   
"It's not like it isn't obvious. Kyle has   
been completely flirting with you and the other girls   
this entire time. Of all the people I had to like,   
it had to be the one who liked everyone BUT me."   
Her cerulean eyes admitted defeat and she let   
her hand go limp against her hair.  
Serena frowned, placing her hand on her best   
friend's shoulder and squeezing slightly. She wasn't   
really sure how she could reassure Mina; telling   
her that Kyle was completely in love with her might   
have worked in junior high, but they'd grown   
up since then.  
Mina sighed and leaned her head against   
Serena's shoulder heavily.  
"And I thought that Kiddie-camp would be   
all popsicle sticks and Koom-Bi-Ya's."  
----------------------------------------------------  
  
I dunno about you guys, but writing this has been kinda  
theraputic for me. It's been so friggin' hectic on my side  
of the universe that being able to write lighthearted stuff  
has eased the tension a LOT.  
  
Hope ya like it so far!  
  
Don't 4get to R&R!  
  
--Adrial  
  
Adrial_06@yahoo.com 


	4. 4 Juicy Juice & Teen Therapy

Camp Kiwachee  
Chapter 4: Juicy Juice and Teen Therapy  
Rating: PG  
Author: Adrial  
  
----------------------------------------  
'You can't be me  
I'm a rock star  
I'm runnin' on the top of a cop car  
I'm a rebel and my .44 pops far  
  
It's almost over now  
It's almost over now'  
"Who lives in a pineapple under da sea?  
SPONGE BOB SQUARE PANTS!  
Absorbent and yellow and porous is he!  
SPONGE BOB SQUARE PANTS!"  
  
'You had plenty of time  
There was no rush  
But it was your dream to be like us  
You're in dreamland so you don't care  
And as you wait  
We're standing there'  
  
"If nauticall nonsense be somethin' you wish  
SPONGEBOB SQUARE PANTS!  
Then drop on the deck and float like a fish!  
SPONGEBOB SQUARE PANTS!  
SPONGEBOB SQUARE PANTS!  
SPONGEBOB SQUARE PANTS!  
SPONGEBOOOOB!  
SQUARE PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANTS!"  
  
"I give up!" Jason slammed down his head phones,  
the defiant voice of Pharrell Williams fading out. He ran  
his hands through the blonde mass on his head and sighed.  
Matt grabbed the CD player from his hands with  
lightening speed and slammed the headphones over his own,  
aching ears.  
"Ahh..." He closed his eyes and folded his arms behind  
his head.  
Jason eyed him with an annoyed gaze and tried to  
grasp the edge of sanity before he fell head first into  
nautical-psychosis.  
SpongeBob took five, and he had to bite his   
tongue not to scream with relief.  
"How much more of this are we going to be subjected  
to?" He asked Zach, who was drinking a dixie cup of Juicy Juice.  
Zach watched the grape liquid swirl around the cup  
and wondered why he ever gave up fruit juice in the first place.  
He downed the rest and poured himself another.  
"Yo, Zach!" Jason said louder and reached over to pound  
him in the shoulder with his fist.  
Zach jerked his head over to Jason and cursed underneath his  
breath when he knocked over his glass of juice.  
"WHAT?" He asked.   
Jason raised his voice, "I said HOW MUCH LONG-ER?"  
Zach squinted his eyes and cupped his hand over his  
ear, "WHAT?!"   
Jason scoffed and reached over to remove the orange  
ear plugs sticking out of Zach's ears.  
"HOW MUCH LONGER?!" He screeched again.  
Zach cringed, "Geez, Jay. You don't have to yell."  
Jason threw his hands in the air and admitted defeat.  
  
On the other end of the party, Serena and Lita were  
currently attempting to deliberate Mina and Kyle's chances of  
hooking up while doing the hokey pokey with a handful of kids.  
"Stick your *left* foot in, not your right, Tommy," Serena  
giggled and lightly nudged his other foot with her toe.  
"So, she really likes him, huh?" Lita craned her neck  
to get a better look at the incredibly massive male staring   
openly at her best friend's blonde head.  
Serena blew a wisp of hair from her face, "Yeah, and  
she's been psyching herself out about him since we got--NO,  
Chloe! Don't eat that!"   
She brought her left leg and arm out of the circle and  
scurried over to Chloe who was kneeling next to a lovely pile  
of assorted cupcake wrappers.  
Her wide, chocolate brown eyes were confused as Serena  
removed a gooey wrapper from her hand and forced her to spit out  
the remnants of the two she'd already begun to consume.  
"Chloe...you eat the *cupcake*, NOT the wrapper, sweety,"  
Serena said exasperatedly, inwardly praying that Chloe didn't get   
wrapper poisoning or anything.  
The sticky six year old puckered her bottom lip and squirmed   
as Serena tried to wipe off her mouth and hands with a wet-nap.  
"Yuck!" She squealed and writhed out of Serena's hands  
and into the two foot high mass of children dancing (more like  
bouncing up and down repetitively) in the elaborately decorated   
mess hall.  
When the campers and Karen had returned from their two  
day hiking excursion, the kids had been more than a little excited  
about the surprise party thrown for them.  
The only ones not enjoying the festivities were the three  
junior campers who had unfortunately tried to [clean] themselves  
after doing their [business] with poison ivy leaves.  
"Sucks to be them." Matt had said openly when they'd come  
back smothered in calamine lotion and scratching like crazy. Lita gladly  
rewarded him with a fist in his rib cage.  
  
  
Raye nervously smoothed the wrinkles in her dark, hip hugger  
jeans and tried to keep her idle hands from twisting the bright red   
material of her halter top into a bunch at the hem.  
If this top doesn't catch his attention, then I might as well  
give up.  
Jason had been avoiding *her* now, and she'd spent the better  
part of the evening staring at him from across their table and wishing  
he'd say SOMETHING.  
From his side of the table, Jason had finally managed to stop  
the ringing in his ears from repeted playings of the theme song to   
Teletubies. Unbeknownst to Raye, her ensemble had been the one thing  
that was keeping him planted to his seat all night rather than bolting  
for the nearest exit.  
How was he supposed to speak to her coherently when she had  
THAT on. The inch or two of tan skin peaking out from under her shirt was   
more tantalizing than if she were wearing a string bikini top. And the   
fact that each time she moved, her silky hair would fall in her face  
and she'd brush it aside with an impossibly adorable scowl was making  
matters worse.  
Halfway through the party, he'd decided to make a gallant   
attempt at conversation one more time, but she'd chosen that moment  
to excuse herself to the bathroom, and he'd lost his courage by the  
time she returned.  
Come on you dipshit, what are you waiting for? He mentally  
coached/berated himself.  
He gave a great sigh and rose purposefully. The few feet   
around the table and over to the girl that had been plaguing his   
mind for what seemed like eternity seemed to drag on, and when he   
found himself inches from her, he froze.  
Raye looked up at him expectantly, her violet eyes glittering  
under the cheap disco ball hanging from the ceiling.   
Say something, idiot! She screamed at him mentally, and  
slowly stretched her glossy lips into a smile.  
Say something, idiot! Jason screeched to himself and   
opened his mouth. Surprisingly, no words came out.  
Raye cleared her throat, "Uh...did you want something, Jason?"  
YOU! YOU! YOU! YOU! YOU! His mind screamed.  
Jason laughed nervously, choosing to answer her with something  
a little less...obsessive sounding.  
"Uh...yeah," He ran his hand through his hair and laughed  
again, "Well...um..."  
Raye straightened in her chair and tucked a lock of raven   
behind her ear.  
"Yes...?"  
Jason's hand fell limply at his side, "Good juice, huh?"  
Raye remained silent for a second, purple eyes wide and  
unbelieving. She cleared her throat again.  
"Yeah, Jason. It's...great," She rose and brushed past   
him, leaving him with the faint scent of her hair and a dixie cup   
filled with crimson juice.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Outside in the sticky evening air, Amy rubbed her   
forehead with her palm and sighed.   
I have to tell him... She thought, gulping as her   
heart sped up at the mere thought of Zach.  
It had only been four days since she'd met him. How   
could he *possibly* be having such an effect on her emotions   
so soon? She thought back to the mirror she'd stared at for   
an hour straight before coming to the party. Her reflection   
floated around in her mind for a lingering moment before   
it was shattered by the sounds of footsteps.  
"Amy, you out here?"   
She inhaled sharply, contemplating whether or not   
to flee the area. Before any such actions could take place,   
however, Zach's smiling face appeared beside her, and she   
found herself smiling back.  
"Hey," She breathed, feeling as if she were being   
violently flung and tossed around on a roller coaster.  
The setting sun cast a shadow over his face, and his   
intoxicating peradot gaze sent her heart into flutters of  
giddiness. Warning signals were blaring in her mind that she  
shouldn't be letting herself feel so much for another, but  
she promptly silenced them.  
"What are you doing out here?" He joined her on the  
porch, and folded his arms over his knees.  
God...if he doesn't stop looking at me like that, I  
think I'm going to start GIGGLING.   
She shrugged, casting her eyes elsewhere, "Nothing really."  
"You know, Tommy's been asking for you for a while   
now," He said bemusedly and laughed at her blush. It was no  
secret that Chai twin #2 had taken an obvious liking to her, and  
Amy laughed slightly at the thought.  
"I think I crushed the poor kid when I told him you were   
already taken."  
The silence that fell over them was unbearable for a few  
seconds, and her already pounding heart went into over-drive as  
if she'd accidentally swallowed the Enegizer Bunny after it  
ODed on steroids.  
He turned to her hesistantly, wondering if he'd crossed  
the line once again and was surprised to find her smiling softly  
at him.  
"You don't, you know...mind, do you?" He said, suddenly  
wondering where his mojo had flown off to and desperately trying  
to stretch the confines of his mind to get it back.  
Amy's heart gave one final flutter before its pace returned  
to normal, and she laughed again.  
Zach was left with a goofy grin plastered over his face   
and the ghost of her petal soft lips on his cheek after she rose   
and climbed the few steps back to the party with a surreal feeling   
of lightheartedness nestled in her stomach.  
He stretched his arms behind his head with a contented sigh.  
"Who says Mr. Clean ain't a ladies' man?"  
"I heard that."  
Amy's voice, dangerously close to his ear, nearly made him  
leap ten feet in the air. He took a moment to calm the beating of his  
own internal bunny, and she wrapped her arms around his waist, laughing  
harder than she had in a long, long time.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mina watched Lita and Matt flirt shamelessly and longed  
to smack the happiness right out of them. It wasn't that she didn't  
want them to be happy--she wanted nothing more than that--but it  
irked her to no end that she, the Goddess of Love and Beauty, was   
standing alone like a wallflower while they paraded around in   
all their love-sick glory.  
She sighed and shoved off of the wall, heading over to the  
punch bowl. Karen smiled jubilantly at her from behind the refreshments.  
"Hit me," Mina said dejectedly and plopped into a seat beside  
the table.  
Karen laughed lightheartedly and obliged, filling her cup  
with a ladle-full of juice. Mina downed the cup in one swig and held   
it out to be refilled.  
Karen shook her head and rested her elbows on the table.  
"As much as you think it might help now, getting drunk off  
of apple juice really won't solve your problems. Not to mention,   
you'll regret it the next morning," She smiled goodnaturedly.  
Mina wasn't the first confused teen to make their way over to  
the refreshment table looking for something other than juice.  
Jason had been first--begging for any type of information she  
could offer him about how to get Raye to speak to him. Unfortunately,  
she'd only known the raven-haired girl for a short time, therefore she  
could offer him nothing other than the fact that her grandfather   
was directly across the lake and a trained martial arts instructor.  
She didn't think that tidbit of info had done much to ease his  
apprehension, though.  
Mina laughed in spite of herself and sighed again, watching  
Timmy and Tommy's current brawl over who would get to decapitate  
the pinata first.  
"What it must feel like to be them," She said, "When your  
biggest problems are who gets to wear the blue jacket, and if you  
like someone, all you have to do is shove their faces in the sand-box  
and you're bonded for life."  
She filled her cup herself and took a small sip this time.  
Karen laughed at that and shook her head, "Don't worry. You've  
still got *plenty* of growing up to do yourself, kid."  
Mina resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and finished her   
juice in one gulp again.  
"Look at him," She nodded at Kyle who was being mobbed by his  
fan club--mainly consisting of girls under the age of 6, "All those  
girls throwing themselves at him. He won't even give me a second glance."  
Karen rose her eyes brows at Mina and tried to bite down her  
laughter.   
"Honey, I doubt he'll be starting any serious relationships with  
five year olds. As far as I'm concerned, you're in the clear."  
Mina scoffed, "But he's been all over my friends ever since we  
got here! Helping them, complimenting them, pulling out CHAIRS for them,"  
She trailed off, her point clearly made in her mind.  
In Karen's mind, she saw what a sixteen year old wouldn't and  
patted Mina's knee gently.  
"You'll figure it all out, Mina. For now, just talk to him and   
see where it takes you."  
Mina smiled gratefully at Karen's attempt to console her and   
stood, "Yeah, well, thanks for listening anyway, Karen."  
  
Talk to him? Why didn't I think of that?   
Mina shook her head. They'd never talked actually. Well,  
there was that one time when she stepped on his foot...but that was  
more of a "Ow!" followed by a "I'm so sorry!" kinda thing.  
That left the score, Kyle: 1 million, Mina: 0.  
She threw a handful of light, blonde hair over her  
shoulder and inhaled deeply. It was time to even the score.  
As she sauntered over to him with no real idea of what she  
was going to do, the dixie cup nestled in her hand seemed to suddenly  
become laced with fire and she smirked.  
  
  
"Alright, Kayla, really...you don't have to--WHOAH!" Kyle   
jerked forward and promptly removed Kayla's hand from its firm grasp  
on his ass. She giggled giddily and hopped over to a cluster of   
accumulating Kyle-admirers.   
Something light and thin tapped his shoulder, and he whipped  
around, relieved to have any type of excuse to peel himself away from  
the mob of girls clinging to his legs.  
When he saw the pair of impossibly light blue eyes he'd been  
aching to turn his way for what seemed like forever, every smooth line  
or compliment flew from his mind, and he stared at her dumbly.  
Mina hesitated for a moment, briefly basking in the feelings   
aroused in her mind when his steely eyes met her own, but then the score  
board wedged itself between Kyle and her, and she smiled sweetly.  
  
There was a collective gasp amongst the campers when she   
turned on her heel with a satisfied smile, leaving Kyle sputtering  
underneath a sticky, surprisingly fruity, wave of golden liquid.  
  
Kyle: 1 million, Mina: 1 million and 1.  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------  
Once when Darien was 14, he tripped on a well-placed   
crack in the ground during a mad rush to catch the 6:00 bus to   
his latest part-time job and fell face-first into the street. When   
he lifted his bruised visage from the cold, snowy ground, he'd been   
face to face with a half ton of metal moving towards his sprawled   
out form at 65 mph.  
And he would have gladly relived that morning a thousand more   
times rather than be within a hundred mile radius of where he was at this  
moment.  
"...and then *after* Gerald threw you the life raft, I was   
so scared that I dropped my ENTIRE bottle of pink diamond nail   
polish all OVER my brand new Chanel sling-backs!" Brianna babbled   
on animatedly, her voice resembling the screeching of the bus's   
tires as it came to a desperate halt before slamming Darien's   
life away.  
Brianna lifted a lock of her firey hair and held it up   
to her nose cautiously before exclaiming, "God, I smell like   
I've been bathing in an pit of dead fish!" She stuck out her   
tongue and flipped the hair back over her shoulder, tightening   
her lethal grip on Darien's arm, "You don't think they make   
big enough air-fresheners for whole lakes, do you, Dare Darling?"  
Darien smiled and nodded--something he had become   
accustomed to doing whenever Brianna ended a sentence with   
"Dare Darling."  
As they rounded the corner to the mess hall, Darien   
had to refrain from flinging himself upon the blessed earth   
in front of it and kissing it until he was convinced he was   
really there.  
It was when he saw Zach and Amy sitting comfortably   
on the front steps that he lost all self-control and launched   
himself into Amy's arms.  
"Amy! God, how I missed you!" He said, barely able to   
conceal his happiness.  
Amy sputtered in his air-depriving embrace and patted   
his back with her hand, eyeing Zach with a confused gaze. He   
shrugged and laughed at his friend's antics.  
"Have a good time, Dare?" He asked, looking behind his   
nearly weeping friend and at a rather annoyed Brianna.  
She tapped her foot impatiently, more than a little   
pissed that her man was holding on to that little blue-haired   
nothing and NOT herself. This simply would not do.  
"Excuse us, Jack and..." She glared at Amy's quickly   
purpling face, "Lamie, was it? Yes, well, Darien and I were   
just coming here to change for our date tonight."  
Darien finally peeled his arms away from Amy's torso   
and looked at Zach with a "Help me or I will feed you to the   
coyotes" look. Zach cleared his throat and turned back to   
Brianna.  
"Really...well, Darien, I'd hate to *ahem* ruin that   
for you," He paused to bury the eruption of laughter that was   
pushing to be released in his throat, "But a group of counselors   
have poison ivy and since you're um...pre-med and all--uh,   
they need your medical...assistance."  
Amy raised her eyebrows. She'd already treated the   
three unfortunates that afternoon.  
Darien smiled widely, "Oh, that's too bad...sorry,   
Bria, but *duty calls*," He looked at her, attempting to give   
her some sort of a disappointed frown. Elation was just too   
damn hard to mask, though.  
Brianna puckered her bottom lip and stamped her high   
heeled foot, "Oh, poo! I was looking forward to showing you,"   
She trailed her manicured finger over Darien's jawbone, and   
brought her ruby lips centimeters from his ear. Zach and Amy   
watched the startled emotions flash over Darien's face and   
his neck stiffen considerbaly.   
Brianna turned her head around and looked at Amy and   
Zach before continuing, "I guess that will have to wait until  
later then."  
Darien leaped with joy interally.  
"Well, I just hate to do it but--hey, is that Bob the   
Builder I hear?" He smiled widely and dashed from her arm and   
through the doors to his safe haven.  
Brianna pouted behind him and contemplated on running  
after him.  
Newest issue of Vogue or screeching pre-schoolers?  
She bid her night of Darien seducing goodbye and brushed   
past Jack and Lamie with a healthy 'snob glare' conjured just for them.  
Amy glared at her retreating back.  
"What I wouldn't give to be the one to knock her right off  
those Barbie heels of hers..."   
Zach did a double-take and looked at Amy's smirking face   
incredulously. She eyed him curiously and then covered her mouth  
with her hand.  
"Did I say that out loud?"  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------  
"Ew, Darien, what's that cologne you're wearing? Shamoo?"   
Serena giggled at her own humor and crinkled her nose.  
Darien was so happy at being away from clingy Brianna that  
he barely heard her comment.   
Like moths drawn to a flame, every child in the room dropped  
what they were doing or eating or breaking and scampered over to him  
with squeals and yelps of excitement.  
Serena watched him be enveloped in the mob and laughed in   
spite of herself. Why was this Darien so different from the one she  
knew?  
She tried her damnedest not to look or even attempt to   
decipher the change in his usual steely personality, but, alas,   
his smiling midnight eyes and electrifying grin melted away her   
resolve.  
I could almost...get used to this side of him. She   
thought subconsciously, not really noticing when Lita and Raye   
came up behind her and began talking.  
Not that she'd really had much of a chance to be exposed to  
it yet, but the effect the children were having on her mortal enemy   
made her almost jealous that she couldn't bring out the brighter side  
of Darien before. Hell, she didn't even know it existed in the first  
place.  
She looked on with curious eyes, surprised to find herself   
smiling bemusedly as he joked with them and allowed them to crawl   
all over him like ants on a picnic basket.  
What did they have that she didn't, anyway? But, then again,  
why would she *want* it?   
"SERENA!"  
Her ears were ringing...why was she being shaken like that--OH.  
"Geez, Raye! What is it?" She glared at her friend and shook  
off the tremors in her shoulders from being shaken back and forth.  
Raye sighed exasperatedly and was about to begin another healthy  
dispute with her best friend when Lita nudged her with her elbow.  
"WHAT?" She glared up at her and followed her emerald eyes  
to the 19 year old sprawled out on the floor.  
Lita smirked secretively and Raye finally caught on.  
Serena continued to rub her shoulders and watched the exchange  
between the two with curious eyes.  
Don't even say it, you guys.  
"Don't even *think* about saying it," She brushed past them  
and over to the refreshment table. This was nothing Libby couldn't cure.  
Karen returned her small smile with a ladle of grape juice and  
a grin of her own.  
"Why do guys suck so much, Kare?" Serena sighed and took the   
cup. She slouched into a seat, and Karen eyed her dismayed and confused   
eyes wearily.   
"Scoot over, girl."  
I should really start charging for this.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
Heh heh heh...a little therapy never hurt anyone did it?   
  
Stay tuned, people! I'm just gettin' started.  
  
And btw, in this fic I've said a few times how long the camp  
session actually is, and I think I may have put one week or   
two weeks, but it's TWO weeks. TWO TWO TWO TWO TWO. :D   
  
*I don't own Libby's Juicy Juice, SpongeBob Square Pants, OR   
  
Bob the Builder.*  
R&C/R! ~Adrial~  
  
Adrial_06@yahoo.com 


	5. 5 After Parties

Camp Kiwachee  
  
AN: Yes, it took a while, but I'm a busy girl! I've got   
another fic I'm working on, too. "To Go, Please." It's nearly   
done for those who are reading it. Ch. 15'll be out in a couple   
of weeks.  
  
Enjoy ch.5!  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Camp Kiwachee  
  
Chapter 5: After Parties  
Rating: PG13  
Author: Adrial  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Ow!"  
"Mmff."  
Raye peeled her lips away and rubbed the back of her   
head, glaring at the offending tree branch responsible for the   
golf ball sized lump forming there.  
Jason's blue eyes were barely visible in the thick darkness   
blanketing the night, and she felt around until she successfully   
poked him in the eye.  
"Ow!"   
Laughing, Raye easily found his lips and resumed where they   
had left off.  
After a few more minutes of heated kisses, she pulled away,   
breathless and dizzy with a red haze of emotions.  
Jason breathed heavily against her forehead and squeezed her  
waist.  
"I should have twisted my ankle a *long* time ago," he gave  
into the temptation and started an ascending line of kisses down her   
neck.  
Raye swatted him away with a scowl and folded her arms over   
her chest.  
"It isn't my fault you tripped over that tree stump and   
just *had* to whine like a little baby for fifteen minutes until   
somebody found your clumsy ass."  
Jason had volunteered to retrieve the discombobluated   
pinata that had been thoroughly beaten by the Chai twins and   
tossed for the wolves to eat in a barbaric rage during the party,   
and successfully managed to injure himself in the process. Thanks   
to Raye, who'd gone to look for him when he'd been gone for a   
while (after begrudgingly relenting when, unsurprisingly,   
everyone nominated her), he'd been found with a nastily   
twisted ankle.  
Twenty minutes later, she was pinned against a tree,  
tongue wrestling with him for all her worth, desperately trying  
to hide the fact that she'd never been kissed like that before.   
She did have to admit, though, that it was an ideal way  
to break the ice.  
Jason feigned hurt and grabbed her around the waist   
again, "And you just *happened* to fall onto my lips while you   
put ice on it?"  
She struggled in his arms, thankful for the darkness that   
hid her grin, and scoffed, "You practically shoved me!"  
He kissed her behind the ear, "I didn't hear any protests   
from you, Miss Hino."  
"What about a protest from *MR.* Hino?"  
"AHH!"  
Raye shoved Jason's face away from her own, wincing when   
he slammed into the ground and gave a yelp of pain.  
"OW!"  
And all (grand)parental hell broke loose.  
"RAYE CALIA HINO. What have you to say for yourself?"   
The stumpy old man, gray eyes blazing, stood with clenched fists   
in front of the pair as they clumsily collected themselves.  
Raye hastily rearranged her disheveled clothing and hair and   
tried to appear as innocent as possible.  
"Grandpa! Gee, what are *you* doing here this late at   
night?" She ran her fingers through her hair nervously, "Shouldn't  
you be across the lake, you know, karate chopping a little kid's   
head off or something?"  
Her grandfather's death glare silenced her ramblings,   
and she folded her hands behind her back.   
"I was in the middle of searching for one of the campers   
who got lost during our training session this morning. I figured   
I'd let him have a few hours to sniff his way out on his own, but   
I have a feeling he's run home already," He scratched the back of   
his head, and then shrugged back his shoulders again, plastering   
on a scowl of disapproval, "I could ask you the same question."  
Jason's eyes were as wide as a deer's in headlights, and   
he prayed that the stories he'd heard about her grandfather's  
martial arts capabilities had been extremely over-exagerrated.  
I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. Oh, God, I'm gonna die.  
"Mr. Hino, I can assure you, Raye and I were only--"  
"You, boy," Hino's cold eyes turned to Jason's and watched   
him recoil, "should re-think speaking right now."  
Jason gulped and backstepped a few feet.  
Raye's embarassment morphed into anger, and she clenched   
her fists to control the outburst burning in the back of her   
throat, "Grandpa! Don't be rude to him! We weren't doing   
anything wrong!"  
He looked at his grand-daughter reproachfully, "Nothing   
WRONG, Raye? You and this boy were fornicating on a tree!"  
A dull thump sounded Jason's body crumbling to the ground   
in mortification.  
"GRANDPA!" Raye screeched, reddening to a color identical to   
the fire engine red of her shirt, "We were not FORNICATING!"   
He narrowed his eyes, "Just *what* would you call it then,   
Raye? And I suggest you watch your tone, young lady. I am still your grandfather."  
Raye bit back her curt remark and searched for a less volatile   
choice of wording.  
Through clenched teeth she answered him, "Grandpa, Jason and I   
were only kissing. *JUST* kissing. Nothing more, nothing less. I am SEVENTEEN. Shouldn't I be able to make my own decisions without you   
breathing down my neck every step of the way?"  
  
*cricket*  
  
Hino narrowed his eyes, contemplating her words for a   
moment.  
"We will discuss this later, Raye. From now on, I don't   
want to find you any where near this boy again. I know what's   
best."  
Raye glared at his face, ready to explode, but saw the  
edges of worry underneath his tired eyes and softened.  
"Grandpa, you don't understand. I'm not a little girl   
anymore, and I'll kiss who I want to kiss *where* I want to kiss   
them. You should trust me."  
He scratched his balding head with a heavy sigh, "I trust   
you, Raye, it's HIM," He pointed a finger at the mass of male   
embarassment laying in fetal position on the ground, "that I   
don't trust."  
Raye smiled, in spite of the situation, at Jason's pale   
face and closed eyelids, "Let me deal with that, Grandpa."  
Flashes of indecision shadowed his face for a moment,   
"You like this boy?" He inquired, looking at Jason as if he   
were a dead fly, and he longed for nothing more than to rip   
his arms and legs off.  
"I really do, Grandpa," Raye wiped her forehead, reddening   
at the thought of her grandpa and her having this discussion when   
Jason was sprawled out like an idiot on the ground.  
His forehead smoothed, and he sighed, "No more forni-"  
"Grandpa..." She eyed him with a warning gaze.   
He smiled sheepishly, "Just be careful, Raye. You're all   
I have left in this world, and I don't want you to get hurt, you   
know..."  
He kicked bashedly at the ground, his awkardness evident.  
Raye smiled at his endearing comment and gathered him in her  
arms, "I will, Grandpa. I love you."  
He patted her hair softly and released her, "Go on, go on.   
That's enough for one night."  
Raye laughed, "Thanks, Grandpa."  
He glared at Jason again, "And if he tries anything, I'll   
twist him into a pretzel and sink him to the bottom of the lake."  
Rolling her eyes, Raye ushered him away, "Goodnight, Grandpa."  
"Ah...just one more thing, Raye?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Do I uh...need to put you on the...eh...pill?"  
"GRANDPA!"  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
"'Night, Chloe. 'Night, Becca."  
Lita flicked off the Hello Kitty lamp in between their   
beds, smiling warmly at their sleeping faces sunk deep into   
white pillows.  
The door to their bunk creaked closed, and she  
hopped down the porch steps.  
A low rumble behind her back startled her, and she  
whipped around, only to be tackled to the ground by a rock hard  
body.  
"OUCH!" She yelped, struggling underneath the weight that  
had her pinned to the rocky earth.  
"Pinned ya," Matt announced triumphantly. Lita smiled coyly,  
and ran her fingernails down his chest slowly.  
"Aren't you just such a strong, strong, man."  
Matt straightened his shoulders and stuck his nose in the  
air, "Glad to see you've noticed my masculan--Woah!"  
In a tangle of limbs, Lita ended up stradling his waist  
and grinning victoriously at his stunned expression.  
"That was a cheap shot." He pouted.  
She laughed, "Nope. *This* is a cheap shot."  
She bent down over his face, taking his lips with hers,  
and he leaned up to meet her. She'd been waiting for him to  
kiss her for what? Years now? Seemed like it anyways...  
He deepened their kiss, boldy parting her lips with his  
tongue. She allowed him to, wrapping her arms around his neck  
and pulling him up until she sat on his lap and he was sitting  
up straight.   
I'm making out with a guy in the middle of the night  
with six year olds sleeping three feet away. What's wrong with  
this picture?  
"Hey! I wasn't finished yet," Matt tried to bring her  
mouth back to his, but she laughed and stood, dusting off her  
legs and clothes with the palms of her hands.  
"We're counselors, Matt. What if someone catches us?"  
He shrugged, "So what? We'll tell them we were *counseling*  
eachother on proper C.P.R. techinque."  
Lita rolled her eyes at his comment and turned around   
at the sound of a muffled whimper. She flew through the screen   
door she'd earlier walked out of, Matt followingly closely behind  
her. Once in inside, they knelt beside a weeping Becca's bed.   
Becca's watery blue eyes shed hot trails of tears down  
her cheeks and neck, and she sniffled against them.  
"Don't leave me! Don't leave me!" Her tiny arms flailed  
around her body franctically, grasping the empty space around her  
in search of something neither of the two forms beside her could  
see.  
"Becca, calm down, sweetie. I'm here," Lita smoothed the  
amber bangs from the girl's forhead, desperately trying to ease her  
sobs.  
Becca struggled against Lita's hands, still reaching into  
the night blindly.  
"They're gonna leave! Let me go! I have to get   
them!," She clawed at Matt's hands as they tried to pin her   
arms down, "They don't know I'm...they c-can't see me..."   
Her frantic sobs softened to broken, defeated whimpers,   
"Wh-why can't they see me, Lita?"  
Lita's emerald eyes spilled over with tears at   
the young girl's painfilled gaze, begging her for an answer   
she could never give.  
"Who, Becca? Who's there?" Matt clasped her tiny   
hand in his own while rubbing the small of Lita's back at   
the same time.  
Becca looked horrified, "Didn't you see them? My Mommy   
and Daddy...d-didn't you see? They were there! They couldn't   
see me, and I tr-tried to tell them I'm here, but they couldn't   
hear. I wanted to go to them, but my legs wouldn't work," She   
stumbled over her sobs, "My-my legs never work...when they come."  
Lita tried desperately not to cry out herself, and she   
wiped her moist eyes with the back of her hand.   
"Becca..."   
Words wouldn't come. Hadn't she had that same dream  
before? So many nights she'd spent haunted by her mother and   
father's images, yet never able to reach out to them, touch them,   
hear their voices...  
She searched Matt's eyes desperately, unable to find a   
way to comfort Becca other than holding her tightly against her   
chest.  
Matt saw the pain in Lita's eyes--the same pain he'd   
seen hidden behind a well-constructed and strategically placed   
veil of strength the first day they'd met.  
He placed a tender kiss on her forehead and wrapped his  
arms around her and Becca until both of their tears dried and the   
gentle hands of sleep lulled the her away with them once again.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"When's your birthday?"  
"January 21."  
"Favorite color?"  
"Red."  
"Food?"  
"All food."  
"Song?"  
"I can't answer that. SpongeBob is still ringing in my ears."  
  
"Alright, my turn," Zach grabbed the bowl from her   
hands and set it in his lap, trying to juggle the flashlight   
and the stick that was holding up their mini-tent at the same   
time.  
They'd snuck out of their bunks, Ami being the least   
enthused about sneaking around at midnight while her friends   
were resting for the next day's activities. Unbeknownst to her,   
all suddenly turned into two strategically placed pillows   
underneath a blanket fifteen minutes after she'd made her   
escape. But then again, Zach was so persuading with his   
little boy grin and wide eyes that she just couldn't say no.  
She smiled at him through the dimness, contemplating   
how long it would take before they were mauled by bears or   
caught underneath a sheet in the middle of the woods.  
"OK...first question," Zach wiggled his eyebrows at   
her and took a dramatic pause before unfolding the piece of paper.  
"When did you go on your first date?"  
She bit her lip. She did *not* want to think about   
her first date.  
"Uh...pass?" She scratched the back of her head nervously.  
He shook his head, "No way. I answered your questions,   
you *have* to answer mine."  
She scoffed, "Fine. Eight grade. Horrible experience.   
Next question, please."  
He grinned, "Ah ha. At least I know I don't have any   
competition there."  
Ami laughed again and shoved the bowl back in his   
hands. Zach reached in, retrieving a piece of paper.  
"Favorite T.V. show?"  
"Didn't anyone ever tell you T.V. rots your brain?"  
"Of course they did. Haven't listened to them yet."  
"Favorite color?"  
"Blue."  
Zach nodded, "Mmmhmm," and tugged on a lock of her azure  
hair, "I can see that."  
She laughed and pushed his hand away.  
After a few seconds of digging, he pulled out a slip  
and his eyebrows rose dramatically, followed by a sly smile.  
"Latest sexual fantasy?"  
"EXCUSE ME?"  
  
Zach flashed a devious grin as he watched her squirm.   
Ami's eyes were wide, "I know that wasn't in the bowl."  
"Ah...but you can't be so sure," He trailed his   
index finger along her jaw bone and tapped her nose.  
"I'm not answering that no matter HOW cute you think   
you are," She crossed her arms over her chest and focused   
her eyes on the peak of the tent.  
"Come on, you have to have one. What is it?" He reached   
over and poked her rib cage, satisfied when she flinched   
considerably.  
"Zach, that's way too personAL!" She leaned over   
him, trying desperately to keep his fingers away from   
her stomach, "Zach! S-stop, I'm way to-too ticklish."  
"Tell me and I'll stop," He leaned over her, digging   
his fingers into her sides more persistently until her   
face ached from laughing.  
"No!"  
"What is it? Whipped creme, maybe?"   
"Zach!" Her face was red now.  
"Nah...you're more of a chocolate lover, right?"  
"I'm s-so serio-serious, Zach. If you don't-stop now..."  
"You'll what?"  
"I'll--I'll..."  
"Sorry, can't hear you, Amy. What was that? Did   
you say a leather whip and handcuffs?"  
"ZACH!"  
Finally, the makeshift tent gave way underneath   
their movements and Zach fell over her torso, his face   
cradled in her neck.  
She took the opportunity to untangle her limbs   
from the blanket.  
"Not so fast."  
He tugged her back down and ignored the bowl as   
it toppled over, spilling the white sheets of paper over   
the ground.  
Amy breathed heavily over his chest, laughing even   
though his fingers were no longer tickiling her sides.  
"I-can't-breathe," She panted, trying to control   
her laughs.  
She rested her head on his chest, willing her beating   
heart to return to normal pace. Zach laughed deeply and   
smoothed down the hair on her neck.  
Adjusting herself so that she lay beside him with   
their legs entangled rather that on top of him in a   
particularily compromising position, Ami sighed and grabbed   
his hand in her own.  
"Thanks," She whispered against his neck.  
"For what?"   
"For this."  
Zach smiled, "What? The sucky tent or the embarassing   
ques--"  
His words trailed off into her lips as they settled   
onto his own. She broke the kiss after a few seconds, feeling   
slightly embarassed.  
"S-Sorry, I mean..." She stumbled over her words, unable   
to shake the hazy feeling filling her head.  
Zach answered her by pulling her face down to his again   
and kissing her until her heart beat calmed and she relaxed in   
his arms, kissing him and holding him, with a collapsed sheet   
to hide the pink tint of her cheeks.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
Serena hummed to herself that night while she sat   
absentmindedly in front of the lake, watching amorphous shadows   
dance across the windows of the martial arts camp beyond its waters.  
About 100 yards away, Darien lay quietly on the dry earth,   
staring at the velvety sky, peppered with drops of light, with his   
hands drawn up behind his head for support.  
Both, none the wiser of the other's presence, sighed a   
deep sigh and shifted their bodies restlessly.  
  
  
I wonder what he's doing right now... She mused   
thoughtfully and played idly with a lock of her midnight-stained   
hair.  
Sucking face with that disgusting Brianna probably...   
She scoffed, the sound muffled by a tuft of her hair that flew   
across her face in response to the breeze.  
  
  
The same breeze tousled a few locks of Darien's ebony   
hair, while his thoughts drifted to no place in particular. Her   
face was there, as always--an image he'd kept safe within the deep   
confines of his mind for times when he needed comfort, or simply   
proof that there was still hope in his world.  
She'd never understand me...she's too inexperienced...too   
young...too perfect to ever be troubled by my pathetic life.  
  
  
Serena leaned back on the palms of her hands, digging her   
toe into the sand.   
Why should I care, anyway? He probably isn't thinking   
about me right now, so why should I?  
She growled inwardly at her weakness when it came to him.   
She knew she would always think of him. He was an obnoxious crick   
in her neck that she couldn't assauge...or really didn't want to.  
She plucked a rock from off the ground and tossed it into   
the lake.  
  
  
Darien's ears perked up at the sound a tiny splash from   
the lake. Shrugging it off as a fish or something, he continued   
in his aimless thoughts.  
It'd be so much easier if you were here...   
The stinging behind his eyes alarmed him, and he inhaled   
deeply, sitting up to change his focus from such thoughts.  
Why did you have to leave anyway?  
With an angry growl, he rubbed his hands over his face   
roughly and jumped to his feet.  
This is no time for a pity party, Chiba. You're an   
adult now. Get a friggin' back bone.  
  
  
Serena gasped. Were there bears in this lake? Her heart   
flip-flopped inside her chest, and she shivered in her place.  
Where else could a growl come from?  
Standing quickly, she darted her eyes around in search of   
anything out of the ordinary.   
This is so stupid, Serena. She mentally berated herself   
for being so childish.  
How old are you again?  
The thought of a colossal grizzly lethargically bounding   
through camp quarters flitted into her mind, and she deviously   
pictured it mauling a certain red-head as she slept soundly in   
her newly arrived canopy bed.  
She couldn't help the snort that left her nose, nor the   
giggles that followed.  
What I wouldn't give to see the look on that overly   
mascaraed face of hers.  
What did Darien see in Brianna, anyway? She wasn't   
right enough for him...*good* enough for him.   
Sleepily, she outlined two ovals in the colbat sky,   
and swore that God must have done the same for his eyes...  
those hauntingly dark eyes that held something in them that   
she couldn't put her finger on, but desperately wanted to.  
"If he wasn't so cold, maybe I'd have a chance..." She uttered  
into the night and shook her head, "Why do I have to have feelings   
for him out of *ALL* the men in the world?" With a scowl, she smeared   
the pictures of nothing she'd drawn with her index finger in the sand.  
"We're practically living on separate continents."  
  
  
He swore he was going insane. Yep, he'd finally cracked.   
Soon he'd be talking to assorted voices in his head while flinging   
off of white matresses stuck on walls in the looney-bin.  
Her laugh.  
He'd heard it, he swore he did. Feathery and light, it   
drifted over his ears in soft caresses, dissipating before he   
could grasp whether he'd imagined it or not.  
"Nah." He shrugged in the darkness.  
As the greedy hands of exaustion threatened to tug him   
into an alluring abyss of sleep, Serena's face began to filter   
out of his vision like sand through his fingertips.   
He didn't fear he'd lose her, though. She always came   
back to him when he needed her, and he closed his eyelids at   
that comforting thought.  
The pain that stung his heart dulled to nothing.  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
End of Chapter 5  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
What? No Mina/Kunz, you ask? Well, they'll have their time   
next chapter, don't you worry your pretty little head off about   
that. :D I gotta save SOMETHING for later.  
  
Tell me what you think!  
  
Peace  
  
~Adrial~ 


	6. 6 The End of Camp Kiwoochee?

Ahhh! I know I know...it's been FOREVER since I last updated.  
  
Would it help if I pleaded for forgiveness? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE  
  
PLEASE PLEEEEEEEEEASE forgive me!   
  
I want every one of my chapters to rise to their full potential  
  
and this one proved to be extremely difficult to get out considering  
  
the personal aspects of it involving a certain male character (3   
  
guesses who I'm referring to). I sincerely hope it was worth the   
  
wait!  
  
Enjoy :)  
  
"Camp Kiwachee"  
  
Chapter 6: The End of Camp Kiwachee?  
  
Author: Adrial  
  
E-mail: Adrial_06@yahoo.com  
  
Rating: PG-PG13  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Serena cupped her hands in the icy water  
  
and threw it over her face without thinking. She  
  
shivered at the shot of chills that raced down her  
  
spine from the sudden freezing sensation and rubbed  
  
her fingers around her eyes and forehead.  
  
When her eyes opened again, she bit down the   
  
tears that welled behind them and forced her lips to   
  
stop trembling.   
  
"Sere? Are you alright in there?" The concerned  
  
voice filtered into her ears in muddled waves of sound,  
  
but she didn't bother responding for a moment.  
  
How could I have been so stupid? She mentally  
  
berated herself and patted her face dry with an itchy  
  
towel. Her hair dripped rivulets of water down her bare  
  
shoulders and ended in a mass of wet tangles at her   
  
waist, and she stared at it, seemingly unable to muster  
  
the energy to comb them out.  
  
When the door to the bathroom creaked open and   
  
Raye's head popped through, she sniffed surreptitiously   
  
and smiled a small, wavering smile. Raye's lips curved  
  
slightly, and she entered, her white bathrobe slung over  
  
her shoulder.  
  
"I just wanted to see if--" She paused, seeming  
  
to lose the words of comfort she'd had so clearly thought  
  
out before.  
  
Serena's eyes fought to release the rivers of   
  
salty emotion that pushed behind her eyelids, but she  
  
wiped her face with the towel once more and sighed.  
  
"I'm fine, Raye, really," She failed to convince  
  
even herself with her shaky tone.  
  
Raye wasn't one to be fooled, and she reached over  
  
to envelope her friend in her arms.   
  
"No, you're not. Don't even try to lie to me," She  
  
laughed a little and brought Serena out at arm's length.  
  
Serena sniffed again, fighting in the losing  
  
battle she waged with her emotions. Raye's amtheyst eyes  
  
softened, something she was unaccustomed to doing unless  
  
in the presence of those she truly cared about.  
  
"Come on," She gestured to the door and ushered  
  
Serena out of it and into the girls' cabin.  
  
She grabbed her wide-toothed comb and plopped onto  
  
her bunk, patting her lap.   
  
Serena rolled her eyes, smiling at her friend's  
  
sudden change in personality, but obliged and let her head  
  
fall heavily onto her lap.  
  
Raye lifted the mass of blonde from behind Serena's neck  
  
and began to comb out the knots.  
  
"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked softly after  
  
a few minutes.  
  
Serena's closed eyes opened slowly and she shook her  
  
head slightly.  
  
"Not now, Raye."  
  
Raye cast her eyes down on Serena's head and   
  
nodded slowly, her hands still moving the comb through   
  
Serena's hair in fluid strokes.  
  
She had only a slight clue of what had gone   
  
down the afternoon before between her former crush and   
  
the depressingly sad girl resting in her lap. But she knew   
  
when a subject needn't be pushed and respected Serena's   
  
feelings--however confusing they were.  
  
  
  
------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Are you sure she's alright, Raye? I mean," Mina  
  
lowered her voice to a whisper, "She's so broken up about  
  
it."  
  
Raye sighed at the table and poured another glob of  
  
glue into Alexis' paper bowl. The tiny girl giggled in delight  
  
and submerged her spongebrush in the white goop, smothering  
  
her popsicle stick with it.  
  
"I dunno guys..." Raye wiped her hands off with a wet  
  
papertowel and picked at the glue under her fingernails.  
  
Amy frowned, looking at Lita. She shrugged, as sure of  
  
what to do as any of them.  
  
"We've got to do *something*, guys," Mina announced,  
  
her heart aching for her friend.  
  
"What could we possibly do, Mina?" Raye said, a little  
  
more agitated than she meant, but Mina went on, unphazed by  
  
her tone.  
  
"Something, something, something..." She trailed off.  
  
After a few seconds of deliberation, her cerulean eyes   
  
sparkled and lit up like birthday candles. She dunked a popsicle   
  
stick into the tub of glue and pursed her lips to hum the theme  
  
to Mission Impossible.  
  
As her humming escalated in volume, the three counselors  
  
eyed eachother wearily and smacked more sticks onto their bird  
  
houses.  
  
  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
"OUCH!" Jason yelped, masaging his rear end tenderly,  
  
"How many times do I have to tell you guys that I-AM-*NOT*-THE  
  
DONKEY!"  
  
Timmy burst into giggles and high fived his mirror image  
  
with a sticky palm. He peeled off the mask that was tied around  
  
his head and exchanged it with Tommy for the original. Tommy laughed  
  
secretively as he took the see-through mask from his brother.  
  
Timmy handed Alex the blue cloth and watched as he twirled   
  
around in circles.  
  
Jason glared at the twins and wrestled with Tommy for the trick  
  
mask.  
  
"Give-it-to-me!" He strained, mentally shocked at the grip  
  
the six year old had.  
  
Tommy struggled for a while and then smirked.  
  
Jason landed promptly on his already throbbing ass shortly  
  
after.  
  
Zach erupted into laughter, chuckling harder as he bent to help  
  
his steaming friend off the floor.  
  
Jason scoffed and rose on his own, "If Rosemary's babies  
  
try to stick me with that pin ONE MORE TIME--"  
  
"You'll be sitting on a pillow for a month," Matt laughed  
  
as he finished painting a growling lion on Bobby's cheek.  
  
"Yeah well, how 'bout I knock that ugly monkey off your face  
  
for you?" Jason threatened, and Matt scoffed, bringing his hand to   
  
the brown blob on his left cheek.  
  
"It's a *kangaroo*."  
  
Jason rolled his eyes and rubbed his butt, glaring daggers  
  
inwardly.   
  
Mustn't hurt children. Mustn't hurt children.  
  
Darien smiled disdainfully from beside him. He even tried to  
  
round up a chuckle or two, but failed miserably.  
  
Matt looked at him and clapped his shoulder, "Don't worry  
  
about it, Dare."  
  
Darien shrugged it off, "I'm not."  
  
"I'm sure it'll all smooth over, and she'll forget *all*  
  
about it by the end of the week," Matt offered.  
  
Darien appreciated his attempt to help, but couldn't  
  
shake the foreboding feeling that had nestled itself in his stomach  
  
and refused to leave ever since the afternoon before.  
  
"Yo, Kyle, you mind helping out here or are you going to  
  
sulk all day?" Zach threw a paint brush at Kyle's head and missed.  
  
Kyle deepened the scowl that seemed to have been permanently  
  
engraved on his face for the past two days and dug his fingernails  
  
into his palms to keep from flipping him off.  
  
He opted for a kid-friendly glare and slumped back into  
  
the gray world of broken egos.  
  
She threw apple juice in my face...  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
Serena lifted the hair off of her sweaty neck and pulled  
  
it back into a loose ponytail as she walked.   
  
The dusty door to Karen's office creaked open when she  
  
shoved it lightly, and she slumped into it.  
  
"Kare? Are you in here?" She called, hoping that the  
  
carefree woman hadn't been too broken up.  
  
"Kare?" She stepped over a group of boxes and eyed them  
  
dismally.  
  
"I'm back here, Serena."   
  
Karen's voice startled her, and she jumped. When she   
  
found Karen, bent over a pile of papers, Serena could barely   
  
control the tears that stung her eyes.  
  
"I-I just wanted to see if you were alright..."  
  
Karen waved a hand in the air dismissively, rounding up  
  
a bright smile for the guilt-ridden girl.  
  
"Just tying up some loose ends, that's all," She patted  
  
the ground beside her and shoved a stack of papers out of the way  
  
for Serena to sit.  
  
Serena drew her knees up to her chest and turned her eyes  
  
towards the ceiling.  
  
"This isn't fair, Karen. She shouldn't be doing this just  
  
because of me," A spark lit in her sapphire eyes, and she dug her  
  
nails into her knees.  
  
Karen sighed dejectedly and shrugged, "What's done is done,  
  
Sere. We'll find another way to--"  
  
"No, Karen! This is my fault, and I'm not going to just sit  
  
around and watch you give up everything you've been working for so   
  
long to keep!" Her passionate rage filled the tiny office, and she   
  
rose quickly.  
  
"This is between me, Darien, and," She shuddered at the mere  
  
thought of the girl, "Brianna Lawson."  
  
Karen watched silently as Serena stormed out of the office.  
  
A stack of pictures blew off of her desk as Serena whipped past them,  
  
and they fluttered to the ground in a mixture of smiling faces.  
  
Karen lifted a photo from the bunch and stared at the elated  
  
faces of the kids she'd considered as her own. As she succombed to the  
  
moment of bitter nostalgia, every name and painful story of each of   
  
the orphans flitted into her mind.  
  
With a shaky palm, she brushed the image of a grinning 7   
  
year old boy; his ebony hair was dishevled across his tan forehead   
  
and shone in the scorching summer sun, shading deep blue eyes from   
  
the burning rays. His face blurred as her dismal tears splashed   
  
soundlessly against it.  
  
  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
*THE DAY BEFORE*  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"I'm telling you, it's THIS way."   
  
"Who's got the map here? Me or you?"  
  
"Well-"  
  
"Exactly my point. And since *I've* got the map, *I'll* be   
  
the one navigating."  
  
Serena screwed up her face in annoyance and threw her hands   
  
in the air with an exasperated huff, "Fine then, Davy Crocket, lead   
  
the way."  
  
Darien rolled his eyes at her sarcasm and brushed past her.   
  
Inside he knew they were lost. He'd known an hour before when they'd   
  
past the pond for the fifth consecutive time.  
  
But would he let Serena know that? NO WAY. He was supposed   
  
to be the wiser one, the *mature* one.   
  
The sun was already dipping into the horizon and casting an   
  
eerie peach glow over the deserted forest. He watched it with   
  
determined eyes.  
  
The sun rises in the east and camp's west...so...  
  
"I've got it!" He announced triumphantly and whipped around   
  
to find Serena laying out her sleeping bag and latern on an even patch   
  
of ground.  
  
Frowning, he crossed his arms, "And just what are you doing?"  
  
Serena rolled her eyes, "What's it look like, Sherlock? I'm   
  
setting up camp. We must be miles from camp by now and I don't know   
  
about you, but I'm not about to go stumbling through the woods in   
  
the middle of the night."  
  
Darien grinned deviously, "What? Scared of werewolves or   
  
something?"  
  
Serena gasped, "Werewolves? Are there really werewolves out   
  
here?" Her eyes grew large and panicked and she looked worriedly at   
  
the sky.  
  
"Full moon..."   
  
Darien eyed the rising silver circle in the sky and inwardly   
  
flinched. There had been a full moon that night...he still remembered watching it for hours before they found him.  
  
"Darien?"   
  
Serena's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he   
  
shook his head to clear it. She gave him a peculiar glance.  
  
"What? You scared of werewolves, too?" She seemed relieved   
  
not to be the only one terrified of the vicious demons of the forest.  
  
Darien chuckled loudly, "Werewolves? Serena," He placed a   
  
hand on her shoulder, "There's no such thing."  
  
Serena shrugged away his hand and stuck her nose up in the   
  
air, "Well if you want to believe that then fine. You can sleep   
  
*outside* the tent."  
  
In five minutes she assembled the relatively simple   
  
camping tent and crawled into it, flashlight in hand, and Darien   
  
watched with a humored light in his eye as she pulled a Snicker's   
  
bar out of her pocket and hungrily unwrapped it.  
  
"Always prepared for the worst, huh?" He teased as she   
  
gobbled half of the candy bar up, "And what am I supposed to eat?"  
  
Serena shrugged, "I missed the part where that was my   
  
problem." With a final grin, she zipped the tent shut and retreated   
  
to the farthest corner of it with her Snickers and blanket under   
  
her arm.  
  
Darien stood there for a moment, steaming with annoyance at   
  
the immaturity of the girl and how he'd almost found it endearing   
  
that she still retained a child-like fear of story book villains.  
  
It was her fault they were lost anyway. They were supposed to   
  
be on a scavenger hunt with all of the camp when half way through   
  
their search for a tree frog, Serena had decided it would be fun to   
  
chase a baby deer half way to the middle of nowhere. She had then  
  
resorted to screaming for a good twenty minutes before Darien had   
  
located her near a pond and in the processs *mis*located the   
  
direction of the camp.  
  
They weren't even on the same team. She, Mina and Matt were  
  
teamed up, and he, Brianna, and Amy were as well. He'd left Brianna  
  
with a hesistant Amy and their three protégés (Kayla and the Chai  
  
monsters) before running off to find out who was screaming bloody   
  
murder and why.  
  
And that was the last they'd both seen of their friends.   
  
Now they were stuck, in the dark, with no clue where they were   
  
other than that it was thickly congested with trees and brush,   
  
making it nearly impossible for them to make their way through.  
  
Chocking it up to a bout of bad luck, he decided to go   
  
along with it for now and wait until morning to begin their journey   
  
back. He retrieved a sleeping bag from his napsack (part of the hunt   
  
was to spend the night in the woods using the tools provided) and   
  
laid down to sleep.  
  
The cries of night predators permeated the silence and   
  
calmed his agitated nerves. At least he'd get a decent night's sleep.  
  
"Darien..."  
  
Or not.  
  
He rolled over to face the tent and stared at Serena's   
  
silhouette surrounded by the glow of the flashlight.  
  
"Yeah, Meatball Head?"  
  
Her shadow shifted at the much abhorred nickname, but she   
  
ignored it.  
  
"Do you think we'll ever get back?" She said in a tiny voice.  
  
Serena hated being scared. Honestly, she did. But there was   
  
something about the dark forest looming around her that sent her   
  
crazy with anxiety. What she hated more, though, was admitting to   
  
her rival that she was even weaker than he'd previously conceived.  
  
Darien bit back the mocking rebuttal itching on his tongue   
  
at the sound of genuine fear tinging her voice.  
  
"Don't worry, Serena. We'll be back before you know it, and you  
  
can be assured that Raye will be jumping down both of our throats."  
  
Serena giggled quietly from inside the tent and drew her knees  
  
up to her chest.  
  
"Aren't her and Jason cute together?"  
  
Darien could picture the vibrant grin on her face even though  
  
he couldn't see her, and he smiled, too.  
  
"Yeah, Meatball Head, I guess so."  
  
She gushed, "And even *Ami's* acting all love-sick now!   
  
Can you believe that I caught her and Zach making out behind the   
  
mess hall this morning?" A stream of giggles flowed from her mouth,   
  
"She nearly died!"  
  
After her laughter died down, she twirled her hair in   
  
between her fingers and thought of Lita and Matt's odd display   
  
of affection for each other.  
  
"It's great seeing them all so happy. I mean, once Kyle   
  
forgets about the whole apple juice incident and everytyhing, it'll   
  
all be perfect." She laid back again, smiling at the thought.  
  
Darien found himself shaking his head, amazed at how   
  
Serena seemed to see everything through rose colored glasses.   
  
Everything but him, that was.  
  
He felt a pang of regret at having wedged himself into the   
  
tiny space Serena reserved for those she couldn't stand.   
  
"You never know," Serena's voice sliced through his thoughts  
  
again, "you could be next."  
  
He furrowed his brow. Next for what? Love? Whatever. Not   
  
Darien Chiba.  
  
"Relationships aren't my thing, Meatball Head." He flipped   
  
over in his sleeping bag, hoping that would end their conversation   
  
before it had a chance to go where he knew it inevitably would.  
  
Serena found her heart soaring at his answer. She'd half   
  
expected him to be wrapped around Brianna's finger by now. But   
  
then again, she never had fully understood the man.  
  
"I can tell." She uttered, realizing that his response   
  
also meant she didn't stand a chance. But she wasn't supposed   
  
to care. That wasn't the plan.   
  
She stared at what would be his form sprawled out in   
  
front of her tent and quietly sighed. Somehow when it came to   
  
Darien, nothing ever went according to plan.  
  
Sighing, she clicked off the flashlight and pulled her   
  
blanket up to her chin.  
  
"'Night, Darien."  
  
"'Night, Meatball Head."  
  
*Next Morning*  
  
"Rise and Shine!"  
  
Serena's eyes cracked open slowly, her vision blurred   
  
and foggy from sleep. When she'd rubbed them free of the traces   
  
of la-la land, she came eye-to-eye with the most disgusting pair  
  
of yellow eyes she'd ever seen.  
  
"AAHH!"  
  
Bounding out of tent, she shook with anger and balled her   
  
hands into fists.  
  
"What is THAT?!" She screeched. Darien laughed loudly and   
  
shrugged, looking at the large fish proudly.  
  
"Breakfast."  
  
Serena eyed the fish wearily, her stomach growling.   
  
"You...you caught that?"  
  
Darien knelt on the ground beside a slowly but surely   
  
growing fire and skewered the fish with a sharpened branch.  
  
"Yeah. While you were snoring, I took the inititive to   
  
get us some *real* food." He answered, referring to her stash   
  
of twizzlers and M&M's.  
  
Stretching her arms high above her head, Serena plopped   
  
down beside him, warming her chilled fingers near the flames.  
  
"This is kinda cool, actually. Where'd you learn how to   
  
do this?"  
  
He paused his movements. "I told you. I went to this camp   
  
for ten years. You tend to pick up a few things over time."  
  
Serena furrowed her brow at his dismissive tone and chose   
  
to let it go. But not before muttering "Grouch" underneath her   
  
breath.  
  
They watched the plump fish cook in a silence that was broken   
  
only when Darien moved to rotate the skewer.  
  
Serena looked at him through the corner of her eye. His   
  
mussed hair lay in dishevled pieces across his forehead and the   
  
legs of his pants were damp from his fishing excursion, but he   
  
was just as alluring and intimidating as before.  
  
"So..." Serena played idly with the hem of her shirt, "How   
  
long do you think it'll take to get back to camp?"  
  
Darien broke away from his muddled thoughts when Serena had   
  
spoken and asked her to repeat the question.  
  
She did so, eyeing him curiously, and he ran his hands   
  
through his hair out of habit. A habit Serena found obnoxiously   
  
adorable.  
  
"When I was out looking for food, I found a closed off   
  
trail. My guess is that it leads to the old farm house that the   
  
owners of the camp used to live in before they passed away a few   
  
years ago. I remember a road that leads straight to camp from   
  
there, so we should be able to make it back by noon if we hurry."  
  
Serena hadn't heard a word he'd said, for she'd been too   
  
busy watching the fire light dance in his turbulent eyes, the   
  
lines of his face, and the shadow of the scar she had defintely  
  
*not* forgotten that lingered above his left eyebrow.  
  
When the blurred sound of his voice trailed off, she   
  
snapped back out of her musings and nodded dumbly, hoping she   
  
seemed like she'd been paying attention.  
  
He had been looking at her glazed over eyes for a few   
  
seconds before she'd seemed to come out a trance and nod in   
  
comprehension. He moved to speak, but no words came and he   
  
simply stared at her, and she at him.  
  
He took in her tousled hair and the smudge of dirt on   
  
her cheek, forcing his hand to stay put rather than using the   
  
excuse to touch her skin.   
  
Serena had no clue what was going on. Her heart raced   
  
and then slowed and the sped back up again; she almost thought   
  
she'd have a stroke. The gap in between her and her arch enemy   
  
had shrunk from what seemed like lightyears away to mere inches.  
  
Suddenly realizing the akward position she'd put herself   
  
in, she used all of her will power to break eye contact with Darien.   
  
When she turned away it felt like an electric current that had   
  
been buzzing in her chest had been abruptly cut off, leaving her   
  
empty and dull again.  
  
"U-um...isn't it time to turn the fish again?" She looked  
  
at the browning fish and licked her lips, although it wasn't out   
  
of hunger.  
  
Darien had lost himself in her eyes and fought to find his   
  
sanity again. What had she said? Fish?  
  
He quickly turned towards the fire and grabbed the stick to   
  
turn it over again. It was only slightly charred...but he'd have   
  
bet Serena wouldn't even notice.  
  
Reaching over to his bag, he took out a clean rag and tore   
  
it in half. Handing Serena a piece, he took the fish and sliced it   
  
down the middle, removed the bones and handed her a few pieces of   
  
smoking meat.  
  
She accepted it eagerly, careful to blow on it so she   
  
wouldn't get burned.  
  
Darien leaned backwards, using his knapsack as a headrest,   
  
and ate his fish in silence, barely noticing the shots of pain as   
  
the hot meat seared his tongue.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
*Back at Camp*  
  
"When I get my hands on that scatter-brained meatball   
  
head, I'm going to--"  
  
"Raye! Chill out! Shouldn't we be *worrying* about Serena,   
  
not plotting her death?" Mina stated, forcing the firey brunette to   
  
calm down.  
  
Raye huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. It was then   
  
that Amy came bounding through the brush, looking relieved as ever   
  
to have found camp at last with Timmy, Tommy, and Kayla in tow.  
  
Panting, she ran up to them, "You guys, have you seen   
  
Brianna?"  
  
Mina, Raye, Lita, Matt, Jason, and Zach exchanged confused   
  
glances and shrugged.  
  
"No. Isn't she with you and Darien?" Lita questioned,   
  
feeling the beginnings of a headache creeping up behind her   
  
eyes.  
  
Amy furrowed her brow, "Well she *was* with me. Darien   
  
had gone off to find out what this God-awful screech was and   
  
never came back, and Brianna and I set up camp, or rather *I*   
  
set up camp," She glared inwardly at the memory of her breaking   
  
her back with all of their bags AND trying to keep Timmy and   
  
Tommy from killing eachother while Brianna idly filed her   
  
nails, "And when I woke up this morning, she was gone."  
  
She breathed heavily once she was done and let the   
  
backback fall from her shoulders.  
  
Raye threw her hands up in the air, "Oh great. Now we've   
  
got Meatball Head, Darien, AND that red-headed bi--mmph."  
  
"What Raye *means* to say CHILDREN," Mina smiled sweetly   
  
at the odd glances their campers were giving them, "is that we   
  
better go get Karen and let her know that we're finished before   
  
she starts to worry."  
  
Raye's protests were being muffled by her palm, and she   
  
glared daggers at the blonde keeping her from venting her anger   
  
with verbal assualt.  
  
Jason removed Mina's hand from Raye's mouth and took her   
  
elbow, leading her away from the young, impressionable ears and   
  
towards Karen's office. The counselors follwed, each envisioning   
  
all kinds of horrible things that could have happened to the   
  
missing trio.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"How much further, Darien?" Serena held a hand over   
  
her eyes to block the intense rays of the sun and wiped a film   
  
of sweat from her brow.   
  
From in front of her, Darien shifted his bag on his   
  
shoulder and gave her a backwards glance, "It's not too much   
  
further."  
  
She scoffed. He'd said that an hour ago, but choosing   
  
to follow along quietly rather than create an argument, she   
  
trudged on silently.  
  
They'd been walking for nearly 3 hours, and the scenery   
  
hadn't started to change much until Darien had found the trail   
  
he hoped would lead them to their salvation. It was bordered   
  
mostly by the regular trees and bushes, but at least provided   
  
a partly shaded area where the sun wasn't as relentless   
  
against their skin.  
  
Darien took a gulp from his now warm water bottle and   
  
handed it to Serena who politely refused. Shrugging, he walked   
  
on, listening to the sounds of nature surrounding them...  
  
And when that got boring, he begrudgingly allowed himself   
  
to think about the confusing presence struggling to keep up with   
  
his long strides from behind him.  
  
He was so involved in his own musings that he failed to   
  
see the protruding root peeking out from beneath the earth and   
  
stumbled quite ungracefully onto his face. The world became a   
  
little foggy after that.  
  
"How many fingers?"   
  
"Ungh..." A little groggy, Darien opened his eyes slowly   
  
and squinted up at the blurry, wriggling objects in front of him.  
  
"Seven..." He mumbled, not even bothering to count and   
  
lifted his body from the ground.   
  
Serena shrugged at her three fingers. "Close enough I guess."  
  
Wrapping an arm around his, she helped him stand, and   
  
tried to support his weight, ultimately failing as he shakily   
  
wobbled around.  
  
"Uh...Darien? Maybe you oughta-ack!"   
  
He collapsed on top of her, knocking her painfully into   
  
the hard packed ground. Serena gasped underneath his weight and   
  
wiggled with all her might to free herself.  
  
"D-Darien...you're squishing me!"   
  
Darien tried to lift his head again, but his mind was   
  
still fuzzy and in the swirl of black clouding his vision, he   
  
pinpointed two blue ovals and focused on them to clear the blur.  
  
Serena stopped struggling. Darien's gaze was so intense   
  
that she felt as if she was barring her soul without even thinking   
  
about it.  
  
When she was sure he was going to pass out again, she   
  
shoved his chest with all her might, and he rolled off of her   
  
and to the right.  
  
Serena stood, dusting off her clothing, and rolled her   
  
eyes at her comrade.  
  
"And you have the gall to make fun of ME for falling   
  
all the time? You trip over one little root and you have the   
  
coordination of a two year old." She laughed for her cleverness   
  
and decided to let him rise on his own. No sense in having the   
  
same scene repeat itself. Not that the idea didn't entice her   
  
a little...  
  
Darien tried to stand again, this time succeeding, and   
  
rubbed his forhead gingerly.  
  
"Ow."  
  
Serena 'tsked' and reached into her bookbag for the   
  
first aid kit.  
  
"You're bleeding," She informed him, and he brought his   
  
crimson stained fingers in front of his eyes.  
  
"I'm bleeding."  
  
Rolling her eyes again, Serena took out a bandage and   
  
a tube of neosporin. "Hold still, OK?"  
  
He did as he was told, groggy still, and allowed her to   
  
blow on the cut above his eye gently and then cover it with the   
  
bandaid.  
  
Her gentle touches slowly brought him back to full thinking  
  
capacity, and he allowed himself to enjoy the motherly care for a   
  
moment longer.  
  
When she'd finished, Serena put away the kit and smiled   
  
brightly at his glazed over eyes.  
  
"Can you walk, or are you going to stare at me forever?"   
  
She joked, brushing past him and trotting away.  
  
He shook his head, even though it hurt, and followed   
  
behind her.  
  
"Hey, Meatball Head!" He called after her, and she   
  
turned around.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
He smiled, "Thanks."  
  
She grinned widely, happy to have been able to help   
  
him up after HE fell for a change.  
  
"I figured I owed you one."  
  
He picked up his pace, and she turned around again to see  
  
the peak of a roof poking out from behind the trees. A steel gate   
  
was merely a speck in the distance, but there sure enough.  
  
"Hey! We found it!" Serena exclaimed, jumping up and down   
  
in her excitement. "Come on, slow poke!" Grabbing his hand, she ran   
  
down the trail with newfound energy.  
  
Darien jogged beside her, ignoring the pain in his head,   
  
as it was muted by the small hand firmly clasped in his own.  
  
The gate was locked, but Darien helped Serena climb over   
  
it, and then hoisted himself and their bags over.   
  
The barn was closest to them, and Darien suggested they   
  
take a rest before making the 2 mile hike to camp. Serena readily   
  
obliged, eager to put down the heavy bookbag and rest her shoulders.  
  
The land was beautiful, Serena noticed, and was covered   
  
with acres of the greenest grass she'd ever seen. The sky was   
  
in its purest shade of light blue, hardly a cloud in sight,   
  
and she twirled in circles to take it in.  
  
"It's so beautiful here..." She uttered to herself, startled   
  
when Darien replied.  
  
"I know."   
  
He did it again. Saying one thing as if he was about to   
  
say another, but choosing rather to stop and leave her hanging   
  
on the edge of her curiosity.  
  
She followed him behind the ancient barn doors and the   
  
smell of hay filled her nostrils.   
  
"Their grandson and his kids come up here every spring   
  
and keep the place going," Darien explained, gesturing to a stack   
  
of hay for her to sit on.  
  
She hopped onto it and swung her feet back and forth.  
  
"How often did you sneak up here?" She asked with a smirk.   
  
He ceased his busied movements of arranging their things on   
  
the ground and smiled.  
  
"About every minute I could since I was seven and   
  
started coming to camp."   
  
She sighed and fell back onto her hay stack. "I could   
  
lay here forever."  
  
He watched her with an amused eye as she took pleasure   
  
in something he'd kept a secret for a long time. He could   
  
have opened up his entire life to her at that moment without   
  
pause for thought, and that scared him senseless.   
  
"So how's your eye?" She'd sat up again. He hadn't even   
  
noticed her move.  
  
He remembered his injury and gingerly fingered it,   
  
"It's not that bad. I had a good nurse."  
  
She blushed slightly, although unsure as to why, and   
  
scooted over for him to sit. Looking at his bandage again, she   
  
furrowed her brow and rolled over a thought in her mind until   
  
she could bear it no longer.  
  
"Looks like you opened up that scar again..."  
  
The flinch in his face was barely noticeable to someone   
  
who wasn't looking for it, but she was, and so she saw it.  
  
"...Guess so, huh?" He finally said.  
  
She played with a lock of hair from one of her her ponytails.  
  
"Where did you get that scar, anyway, Darien?" She asked  
  
in a tiny voice, almost afraid to but feeling as if she had to  
  
know.  
  
He didn't speak for a long, tense moment, and she patiently  
  
waited for a response.  
  
And when he did she wasn't sure if she had anticipated what  
  
he would tell her.  
  
His parents were dead...she knew that. Why else would he be  
  
in an orphanage? But killed in a fatal car crash?   
  
She gulped down the lump in her throat.  
  
No memories. He couldn't even remember their faces. He'd   
  
stayed in the ditch for hours until a passing car happened to see  
  
the headlights glaring from the revine.  
  
She felt almost guilty for her own family-centered life, but  
  
he told her not to with an insistent gaze. Her heart and every part   
  
of her ached for him, for his loss, his pain. No wonder he was   
  
so cold...so distant.  
  
But Karen had become his surrogate mother when no   
  
foster parents wanted the stand-offish, shy little boy in the darkest   
  
corner of the playground.   
  
And he'd grown up there until he was 18 and could fend   
  
for himself.  
  
She urged her lip to stop trembling, but it refused. She   
  
cast her gaze, not away from his, but directly into it. He found   
  
this action unnerving and comforting at the same time.  
  
It was then that she finished what she'd started that   
  
night on the bus, and he grabbed her hand as she removed her   
  
lips from the only memoir he had of his past.  
  
From then, what happened was all a blur in Serena's mind.   
  
He thanked her for listening, and she did nothing but nod and brush  
  
a lonely tear from his eye.  
  
She didn't want him to ever feel alone again. She wanted   
  
to be there, pain and all. She could stand the cold. He didn't   
  
think she could, but she knew better.  
  
And he knew that things would never be the same between   
  
them again. They *couldn't* be the same. He'd given her a piece   
  
of him that had been securely kept tucked away in the deepest   
  
corner of his soul, and a thing such as that wasn't done   
  
lightly in his mind.  
  
She cradled his hand in her own, and he felt as if   
  
the weight of his past had been lifted from his shoulders and   
  
swept away with the breeze that tousled the bangs on her forehead.  
  
And then he was done. She let go of his hand, and the   
  
gentle caresses and tears were pushed away. Her emotions   
  
overtook her, bubbling inside her mind like a turbulent ocean   
  
of nonsense. She looked at him and knew he felt the same.  
  
"Don't look so serious, Meatball Head," He said, not as   
  
self-assured as he usually was.  
  
She smiled disdainfully, wanting to be happy for him.  
  
"Stop calling me Meatball Head, and I'll think about it."  
  
He chuckled deeply, and the tension was broken. She   
  
grinned again, this time more easily, and hopped down from the   
  
hay stack.  
  
Darien eased off as well, and stood in front of her.   
  
It was so easy to wrap an arm around her waist and pull her   
  
closer. It was even easier to tilt her chin up to his. Now to   
  
do what'd he'd been longing to for his heart only knew how   
  
long. That was the easiest.  
  
She accepted his lips like rain after a drought and   
  
needed to feel the heat from his kiss as if she was frozen inside.  
  
And that was how she found them. Locked together like   
  
pieces of a puzzle. One in which she wished for nothing more   
  
than to destroy, and she had, stumbling from the loft after   
  
waking from an exhausted sleep only to watch the man she'd   
  
claimed being stolen from her by some worthless, teenage   
  
nothing.  
  
In a rage that blurred her vision in crimson ripples,   
  
Brianna bounded from her kneeling position on the ledge of the   
  
wooden floor of the loft and hastily scampered down the stairs.  
  
"I'll teach that little wench to steal from--AHH!!"   
  
  
  
Serena wanted to pout and stamp her feet when the warmth   
  
of Darien's lips faded from her own, but the thunk from behind   
  
her drew her attention away from that fact.  
  
In a heap of red hair and flailing limbs, Brianna   
  
struggled to stand up straight on the ankle she had undoubtedly   
  
twisted. When all attempts failed, she resorted to laying on her   
  
back and wailing at a pitch that shook the banisters above their   
  
heads and drew Serena's hands over her ears.  
  
Darien hesistated to approach her at first and looked at   
  
Serena as if Brianna was a dead bug he REALLY didn't want to touch. Recognizing the suggestive light in his eyes, Serena feriously   
  
shook her head NO.  
  
Inaudibly, Darien groaned.  
  
If I wasn't such a damn nice guy...  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Karen sipped her coffee leisurely without a care in the  
  
world.  
  
"I'm telling you," She said, "Darien attended this camp for  
  
ten years. He knows what he's doing, and they are going to be *fine*."  
  
Mina scoffed, "But what if there are WEREWOLVES out there?  
  
They could be eaten alive and we'd never know it!" It was uncanny   
  
and sometimes downright eerie how much she and Serena were alike.  
  
Karen dismissed the notion with a wave of her hand and   
  
took another tentative sip of her drink, checking for the umpteenth  
  
time out the window for a familiar blonde to appear.   
  
Mina stopped her incessant rattling when Karen slammed her   
  
cup of coffee down to gape at something outside.  
  
"Karen? What's--SERENA!" With that, the highstrung blonde  
  
zoomed out of Karen's office to head off the approaching trio, Karen  
  
hot on her trail.  
  
  
  
When Serena saw her bestfriend racing towards her, she   
  
dropped the pole she was carrying and ignored the piercing howl  
  
of disapproval that followed.  
  
"Mina!"   
  
They collided in a huge hug and laughed at nothing in  
  
particular other than the fact that one was safe.  
  
"Hey, you two. You wanna give me a hand here?" Darien,  
  
annoyed that his companion had dropped her end of the makeshift   
  
stretcher, gestured towards the flailing girl on the ground.  
  
Realizing her mistake, Serena begrudingly left Mina to help.   
  
It had been a long, long journey back to the camp having to lug   
  
around Brianna AND try to ignore the fact that she had actually   
  
been making out with the man she had vowed to never harbor any   
  
civil feelings toward only an hour before.   
  
At one point, she had been close to hurtling either   
  
herself or the constantly howling girl off the ledge of a cliff  
  
but ultimately no such cliff appeared and she was forced to endure   
  
Brianna's insults and squeals the entire way.   
  
Karen walked up then with a huge grin plastered on her   
  
face and glowed with pride.  
  
"Glad to see my teaching paid off, eh Dare?" She gave  
  
him a pat on the back and cringed at Brianna's bandaged ankle,  
  
"What happened?"  
  
Brianna, puffing and sniffling, stumbled to her feet and  
  
pointed a shaky finger at Serena's nose.  
  
"I'll tell you what HAPPENED! What HAPPENED was that I   
  
caught *this* fashion impaired, moronic, sorry excuse for a--"  
  
"Get to the point, Brianna," Karen intervened, frowning  
  
at the girl's berating words.  
  
Brianna glared at the woman and turned heated eyes back to  
  
Serena's equally pissed off face.  
  
"I had him first! He was mine!" She screeched, making the  
  
sad mistake of stomping her injured foot and then howling and hopping  
  
about until Karen had to grab her shoulders to make her stop.  
  
Mina exchanged clueless glances between Serena and Darien.  
  
"Am I the only one COMPLETELY lost here?"  
  
Brianna threw herself from Karen's hold and continued  
  
her tirade.  
  
"And look what happened! I've been deliberately injured!  
  
You can rest assured that when my father finds out about this,   
  
that will be the END of Camp Kiwoochee!" With a huff and flip of  
  
her matted and twig-filled hair, she turned on her heel and limped   
  
pitifully towards her cabin, leaving the rest to stare dumbfoudedly  
  
at her retreating back.  
  
Serena's mouth hung open in utter shock. "Sh-she can't   
  
really do that...can she Karen?" Thoughts of the many children   
  
that had spent an entire month before the trip talking about nothing   
  
but Camp Kiwachee and everything they would do once they got there   
  
filled her mind and pricked at her eyes in the form of tears.  
  
Karen sighed, scratching the back of her head, and   
  
silently nodded.  
  
"Her father practically owns this place. If he cuts off   
  
sponsorship..." She trailed off, looking wearily into Darien's   
  
widened eyes.  
  
When Darien saw the beginnings of defeat nestling into  
  
Karen's usually optimistic brown eyes, he knew that all was lost.  
  
What would happen when the place that had been his escape for so   
  
many of his troubled years of adolescent and then teenage years  
  
ceased to exist?  
  
---------------------END OF CHAPTER 6--------------------------  
  
Is it me, or was this chapter a LOT more serious than the rest?  
  
I promise more laughs next time! I thought I'd change up the way  
  
Darien explained his parents and everything. Hence the 'no dialogue'  
  
type bit there. Like/Dislike? I really wanna know!  
  
And PLEASE don't hunt me down for leaving Mina/Kunz outta   
  
this one AGAIN. I changed the plot last minute and they just couldn't   
  
be squeezed in. Next one, I PROMISE.  
  
Hmm...That's 2 promises I've made 4 next chapter. I won't let  
  
you guys down!  
  
--Adrial  
  
EMAIL or CRITIQUE FOR COMMENTS/FLAMES!  
  
Adrial_06@yahoo.com 


	7. 7 Mina to the Rescue!

Camp Kiwachee  
  
Chapter 7: Mina to the Rescue!  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Author: Adrial  
  
E-mail: Adrial_06@yahoo.com  
  
AN: *sigh* I'm spoiling you guys by giving you a chapter   
  
after only TWO weeks. It usually takes me a month to find the   
  
time to get a chapter out b/c I'm a perfectionist. It's a good  
  
thing CK is so much fun to write!   
  
NEway, enough rambling. Here it is! Chapter 7! Starring   
  
your favorite couple and mine, Mina and Kunz! Heh heh heh...  
  
told you I'd get to them! I even made their part especially   
  
longer. ^_^ You can thank me by keeping those reviews comin!  
  
And for the sake of my poor, poor time-impaired brain, the  
  
whole Brianna/Darien/Serena issue happened on the sunday before  
  
the last week of camp OK? So when this starts, it's Monday and  
  
camp ends that Friday. Comprende? BUENO!   
  
** * * * * * * * * * * * *   
  
She really didn't want to do this. In fact, she would   
  
have gladly had her canines pulled by a dentist on crack if   
  
such an option had been given to her. But no such luxury   
  
existed, and Mina found herself face to back with the last   
  
man in the world she wanted to look at, much less ask a   
  
favor from.  
  
"U-um...*ahem*..." She stumbled, trying and failing   
  
to keep cool. When her stuttered intro seemed to fall upon   
  
deaf ears, she glared at his back and crossed her arms   
  
over her chest.  
  
"EXCUSE ME!"  
  
"AH! Wah--?" Kyle's stony eyes, a perfect match for   
  
the overcast skies looming over them (Mina begrudgingly observed),   
  
opened wide at the glaring girl before him.  
  
He nearly chocked on his own tongue at the sight of   
  
the girl that had plagued his mind since he'd set foot on   
  
Camp Kiwachee's soil and subconciously lowered his eyes to   
  
her fumbling hands. A wave of relief washed over him at the   
  
absence of anything that could potentially be thrown in   
  
his face.  
  
Joey's bright amber eyes narrowed at Mina and   
  
Kyle's steadfast gaze on eachother, and even at the young   
  
age of 7, he could tell when a quick exit needed to be made.   
  
Dropping the baseball glove Kyle had been helping him slip   
  
onto his clumsy hand, he smirked and scampered off towards   
  
the acre of land speckled with people readying themselves   
  
for a game of T-ball--possibly the last game of T-ball   
  
they'd be playing at the camp ever, compliments of Brianna   
  
"The Bitch" Lawson as Raye and Makoto had justifiably  
  
deemed her.  
  
Mina swallowed, the periwinkle sparks in her eyes   
  
losing the edge she had so desperately fought to maintain   
  
underneath Kyle's obscure, confused gaze.  
  
"I, uh, I guess..." She resisted the urge to flee,   
  
but it had to be said; he was the only one who could pull   
  
it off. She gritted her teeth, subsequentially blurting   
  
out, "I'm sorry."   
  
Kyle raised a platinum eyebrow, wondering what the   
  
goddess standing before had to be sorry for. Wait a minute...  
  
hadn't he spent an entire day battling a hoard of blood-thirsty   
  
mosquitos away from his apple-sticky face even after he'd   
  
scrubbed it till it was raw and another after that tending   
  
to the unattractive blothes peppering his neck and forehead   
  
where the aforementioned vermin had quenched their thirst?  
  
Somewhere in his mind he knew he should be demanding   
  
an explanation for her ambiguous actions, but one look into   
  
her bottomless blue eyes and he turned into a 200-something   
  
pound blob of mush.  
  
Watching the flickers of emotions flash across his   
  
eyes like fireflies she could never quite get within grasping   
  
reach of, Mina uncomfortably played with long strands of   
  
her sun-kissed hair.  
  
"Look. I don't think we ever really got started on   
  
the right foot," She began, opting to speak when obviously   
  
he wouldn't, "So...do you think we could start over?" Staring   
  
at him through her eyelashes, she bit her lip and wondered   
  
why she so desperately wanted to touch the unique hair   
  
framing his face like halo of silver and melt into his   
  
embrace like liquid metal into a mold.  
  
Kyle realized that throughout the five agonizingly   
  
long minutes that she had been standing before him he had   
  
only managed to scratch the surface of his jumbled emotions,   
  
which was the fact that she was beyond beautiful, and he had   
  
yet to do anything but stand and stare at her. He swallowed and   
  
internally wished he could have stolen an ounce of Jason's charm   
  
and confidence or Zach's quick wit right about then.  
  
Mina wanted to shake him to make sure he hadn't fallen   
  
asleep with his eyes open. Why isn't he saying anything? He   
  
can't be *that* mad...and all those bites finally healed,   
  
anyway.  
  
When he finally did say something, she jumped.  
  
"Uh..."  
  
"Yes?" She eagerly licked her lips. Maybe she hadn't   
  
lost her chance after all!   
  
"Uh..." Kyle's mind raced, giving his heart a good run   
  
for its money. You already said that you tool! "I gotta go."  
  
He blurted before he could stop himself and all but ran away.   
  
Mina's shoulders sagged. She really did suck. In fact,   
  
she worse than sucked. She was replusive. She repulsed a guy   
  
she didn't even know!   
  
Great, Mina. Just great. Now how do you plan on--Oh   
  
crap, he's coming back!  
  
She immediately tucked away the sledge hammer she was   
  
using to mentally bash her self to pieces with and straightened   
  
her shoulders to brace herself for the unknown.  
  
It had taken Kyle a full twenty seconds before he   
  
smacked his forehead with a force that would have knocked out   
  
the everyday Homo sapien and turned back around to the spot   
  
she had been, praying she was still there.  
  
She was.  
  
He swallowed hard, shoving his hands into the pockets   
  
of his shorts. The funny thing was, he still had absolutely no   
  
idea of what to say to her even when she was standing mere inches   
  
in front of him with the cutest expression of confusion on her   
  
face that he'd ever seen.   
  
Okay, maybe not *that* funny...  
  
Mina smiled tightly, unsure of whether to stalk off in   
  
annoyance or lose herself in his steely eyes. She immediately   
  
ignored both impulses.  
  
History went on to repeat itself as they stared at   
  
eachother, neither knowing what to say or how to say it. The   
  
section of hair Mina had been twirling violently between her   
  
fingertips had knotted itself into a huge mass of tangles,   
  
but she had yet to notice.  
  
Kyle looked as if he was on the verge of saying something   
  
every two seconds, but then he thought better of it and started   
  
the process again. After a minute or two of failures, he rubbed   
  
his hand over his face and sighed, cracking the stone that was   
  
"KYLE" with a hint of a smile. After all the tossing back and   
  
forth between things to say, he finally settled on one phrase   
  
that summed it all up.  
  
  
  
"I am an idiot."  
  
  
  
Mina was startled at first at his declaration, but then   
  
grinned bright enough to burn his retinas and laughed   
  
lightheartedly.  
  
"Me, too." She breathed, tucking the rats nest she   
  
had finally noticed behind her ear and inconspicuously trying   
  
to hide it with more hair. We're perfect for eachother!  
  
Her smile was like a part in the clouds after an endless   
  
downpour and lifted Kyle's heart to an unnatural high. He'd been   
  
waiting seven days for her to smile at him like that.  
  
Mina felt her heart melting. Every obnoxious thing Kyle   
  
had done or she'd "imagined" him doing blew away with the   
  
wind, and every emotion she hadn't let herself feel for   
  
him sparked back to life inside of her chest.  
  
"I know you're probably wondering about the whole   
  
apple juice incident--"  
  
"Mina, it really doesn't--"  
  
Acting as if she hadn't even heard his words, Mina started   
  
babbling at top speed, "Well, you see, I was just...jealous I guess-  
  
of you and the girls, you know?"   
  
Kyle moved to speak, but she stole his oppurtunity.  
  
"Because you were always flirting with them and being the  
  
'perfect gentlemen'", She inwardly cringed at the memories of Kyle  
  
valiantly catching Serena before she aquainted her face with the floor,   
  
"And all I wanted was for you to look at me like you did them for   
  
once. So, that night I sorta snapped. And I am SO sorry. It was   
  
totally uncalled for and--"  
  
Her rambles were abruptly silenced by a large hand covering  
  
her mouth. Kyle's lips stretched into a barely traceable smile.  
  
"My turn, OK?" He laughed, which was about as rare as Serena  
  
studying, and Mina blushed.  
  
He removed his hand from her face, and she licked her lips,  
  
which now tasted a little salty. She hardly minded.  
  
"Honestly, I only did all of that to...impress you." In all  
  
his life, Kyle had never felt so stupid. If only the guys could see  
  
him now...he'd never hear the end of it.  
  
Mina's heart swelled. He wanted to *impress* her?   
  
Oh, that is so sweet! She beamed, laughing lightly   
  
at his confession and the way his ears turned red when he was   
  
embarrassed.  
  
"Wanna start over?" Grinning still, she offered  
  
him her hand.   
  
Kyle gladly took it, wishing she'd offer him her lips   
  
instead...but, hey, we can't always have what we want, now can we?  
  
"Deal."  
  
They stood there, hands still clasped over one anothers   
  
and resorted to gazing into eachothers eyes like love-sick   
  
puppies. Mina wanted to sigh and float up on Cloud 9, but   
  
she couldn't forget about her reason for being there.   
  
Clearing her throat and breaking the comfortable silence  
  
they were enveloped in, she spoke.  
  
"As much as I would love to stand here all day and   
  
stare at you," Oh, God...did I just *say* that?!, "I   
  
have a favor to ask." She smiled sweetly, turning on her   
  
charm to full power.  
  
In truth, she could have asked him to jump into a   
  
leech filled swamp buck-ass naked and wade around for eternity   
  
and he would have done so willingly. He just hoped she   
  
wouldn't demand anything so...disgusting.  
  
"What's up?"   
  
Mina peered over her shoulders, looking for   
  
anyone who could be eavesdropping and brought her parted lips  
  
dangerously close to his ear, which in itself was a task since   
  
Kyle easily topped her 5'9" frame by nearly a foot. Standing on   
  
tip-toes and completely oblivious to the sensations she was   
  
arousing in Kyle by being so close to him, she hurriedly   
  
whispered into his ear.  
  
As she spoke, Kyle's eyes widened and a shadow of   
  
a smirk etched itself across his face.   
  
** * * * * * * * * * * * *   
  
Raye looked at her friend incredulously, "So, tell me   
  
again why it is that Serena and Darien can't know about it?"   
  
Mina sighed, exasperated, and threw a cautious glance   
  
towards the handfull of floaty-ed children bobbing like apples   
  
in the camp's pool to make sure none of them were drowning   
  
or anything.  
  
"BeCAUSE, Raye, you know Serena! She'll get all noble   
  
on us and try to talk us out of it. And Darien's too busy trying   
  
to talk Queen B's father (Raye knew what the 'B' really stood for)   
  
out of axing the camp for this right now."  
  
Sticking out her nose purposefully, Mina stood, "It's up   
  
to us to fix this! And I'll be damned if this camp goes down   
  
without a fight."  
  
Raye had to admire Mina's ambition. She shrugged and   
  
squirted about a gallon of sunblock onto her sunburn-proned skin.  
  
"Alright, I'm game. But who's going to convince Amy?"  
  
At that question, Mina furrowed her brow. They couldn't   
  
possibly pull this off without Amy's help. It took all of three   
  
seconds before she grinned devilishly and peered around the pool   
  
for a familiar head of blonde.  
  
When she spotted her desired target, she grinned and   
  
waved a hand coyly in the air.  
  
"Oooh, Zachary!"  
  
** * * * * * * * * * * * *   
  
Three days after the Brianna/Darien incident, Serena   
  
still couldn't bring herself to watch the kids laugh and play on   
  
camp grounds when she knew that within two days, it'd all be gone.  
  
During the end-of-camp play all of the campers had put on   
  
she had started bawling on the spot and had to be ushered out of   
  
the mess hall, citing an upset stomach for the worried kids who   
  
questioned her sniffles and the mound of tissue accumulating in   
  
her hand. It just wasn't fair! Damn her emotions. Damn Brianna.   
  
And damn Darien and her stupid attraction to him!  
  
She growled and practically threw herself into the   
  
squishy chair sitting outside the female counselor's bunks. Just   
  
the thought of Brianna made her blood boil.  
  
True to her word, Brianna had called her father the   
  
minute Karen had finished bandaging her twisted ankle properly.   
  
On the phone, she rattled with over-exaggerated sobs and a   
  
dramatic rendition of what "really" went on inside the   
  
barn.   
  
Karen had spent an entire hour trying to talk down the   
  
heated Mr. Lawson and resist a threatened law suit against the   
  
camp. In the end, he'd been more than happy to cut off his   
  
sponsorship of the camp completely and verbally assault   
  
poor Karen for her "barbaric way of treating his precious   
  
baby girl."  
  
Serena wanted to spit and did so, wishing for   
  
Brianna's hairsprayed head to be in the line of fire   
  
rather than an unsuspecting pine cone.  
  
"Wow...pretty impressive, Meatball Head."  
  
Suddenly, she felt like an ice cube had dropped to   
  
the pit of her stomach at the sound of his voice. She had   
  
drained every ounce of her energy avoiding Darien over the   
  
past few days and had succeeded beautifully...until now.  
  
He smiled weakly, not really as passionate about his   
  
teasing as usual. Serena blankly stared at him, cursing her   
  
heart beat for pounding so insistently when all she was   
  
doing was sitting down.  
  
Darien didn't wait for an invite and walked steadily   
  
up the wooden stairs to the porch where she currently sat. He   
  
leaned against the railing, ignoring its squeak in protest.  
  
"So..." He began, desperately wanting to break the   
  
tension between them. He needed her light more than anything   
  
at that moment.  
  
Serena remained silent, finding her fingernails much   
  
more interesting than the attractive 19 year old standing in   
  
front of her.  
  
Maybe if I ignore him, he'll go away. She mused to   
  
herself.  
  
No such luck. Darien walked away from the railing and   
  
pulled up another chair. It scratched loudly against the wooden   
  
floor as he moved it close to her.  
  
Serena jolted internally when he grabbed her fiddling   
  
hands and held them in his own, larger ones. She hesitantly   
  
met his gaze, startled by the vivid emotions held within it.   
  
In the two years she'd known Darien Chiba, she'd never seen   
  
any type of anything in his eyes other than mirth from   
  
teasing her endlessly.  
  
Now there was hope, sorrow, and regret. She swallowed   
  
over the lump in her throat. It was a little too much for her   
  
to handle at the moment and she tore her hands from his, stood   
  
up abruptly and walked over to the very end of the porch, as   
  
far away from him as she could get in the space provided.  
  
"Look, Darien," She began, not allowing herself to look   
  
at him again, "What happpened that day in the barn...it was an   
  
accident. I just got caught up in everything, you know?" She   
  
struggled to force the lies out of her mouth, "I-I didn't   
  
mean for it to happen."  
  
She hated herself at that moment. She hated herself   
  
for lying to him, for ignoring what she knew was true, for   
  
being scared again. She hated him for making her feel this way.  
  
With her final words, Darien felt his heart collapse.   
  
Had he been a fool to think that she would ever care about   
  
him? He felt like bashing his head into a wall for allowing  
  
himself to feel for her...for thinking she would feel   
  
the same.  
  
The dam behind Serena's eyes threatened to break,   
  
but she was stronger than it and forced it to stay intact.   
  
Darien's silence beat into her eardrums louder than an army   
  
of marching bands, and she resisted the urge to clamp her   
  
hands over her ears and hum to break it.  
  
He stared at her, hard, for a few seconds of eternity.   
  
He waited for her to take back her words but knew that she   
  
wouldn't.   
  
Instead, he masked his face with a shaky grin and   
  
rose, "You're absolutely right, Meatball Head," He flashed  
  
a lopsided smile that would have melted any girl's heart,   
  
"I shouldn't have let it happen, and I'm...sorry." He had  
  
trouble getting the last word out. He wasn't sorry, dammit!  
  
He'd been waiting for almost two years to kiss her! And look  
  
what happened. It blew up in his face.  
  
Serena played with a thread of hair and nodded slowly,  
  
almost on the verge of running at him and throwing her arms   
  
around his neck, telling him that it really had meant something   
  
to her, that she wasn't sure what she felt for him, but it was   
  
what she'd been waiting for all her life. But like the prideful,   
  
indignant person she was, she forced the words down her throat   
  
like acid and refused to meet his gaze.  
  
Admitting defeat and gathering what pride he   
  
had left, he rose from his seat and descended the steps   
  
slowly as if at any second she would call him back.  
  
But she didn't.  
  
He turned to her again, and Serena's heart cracked at  
  
the wall of ice that covered his gaze now.  
  
"You know...I'm glad that we agree on what happened   
  
last weekend having no meaning to either of us...but it seems   
  
wrong that all of these children should have to lose a part   
  
of their lives because of our stupid mistake."  
  
And he turned back around, leaving her to her own,   
  
perplexities.  
  
** * * * * * * * * * * * *   
  
REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW  
  
** * * * * * * * * * * * *   
  
Adrial_06@yahoo.com  
  
ja!  
  
6/19/03  
  
PS: And I'm having probz registering for shitennou.com, if you wanna  
  
help PLEASE e-mail me! (e-mail: look UP) 


	8. 8 You and Me

7/5/03  
  
*****************************  
  
"Camp Kiwachee"  
  
Chapter 8: You and Me  
  
Author: Adrial  
  
E-mail: Adrial_06@yahoo.com  
  
*****************************  
  
Okie dokie! Here's chapter 8. Well...a cut down Ch.8,  
  
actually. I realized how long it's taken for me to get  
  
this chapter out and if you wanna know why just read the  
  
AN's for To Go, Please ch. 11. you can probably imagine,  
  
though. :D newaiz, I chopped off the last half b/c I want  
  
to add a LOT more on the end. It's nearly finished, guys!   
  
One last chapter to go! An epilogue? Uh...we'll see..?   
  
Enjoy!  
  
********************************************************  
  
All her life, Brianna Celine-Elizabeth Lawson VI   
  
had had anything her heart desired. Everything she touched   
  
turned to gold, it seemed, and she called all the shots around   
  
the silver spoon that had been permanently planted in her mouth   
  
since birth. With grace and poise and a glare that could pierce   
  
a hole through the forehead of any who dared deny her of her   
  
wishes, she stomped her way through the fantasy life her daddy   
  
had created for her on thousand-dollar heels, and in her wake,   
  
heads turned in either raw jealousy or muted loathing.  
  
Elite acadamies in Sweden, vacations in the south   
  
of France...Only the finest for the daughter of gazillionaire   
  
Frederick Lawson X. But for all the buisness savvy he possessed,   
  
Freddy sure had a soft spot for his youngest of six daughters.   
  
He was, in a word, whipped.  
  
Brianna thought of this as she twirled a lock of   
  
glossy hair around her index finger, staring at the delicious   
  
specimen of man currently eyeing her with a tortured pair   
  
of colbat eyes--a sight she found utterly pleasing.  
  
Licking ruby lips, she smiled seductively and sauntered   
  
towards Darien like a cat on the prowl.  
  
  
  
Darien's Brianna Radar was going full blast,   
  
ringing inside his ears like the sirens of a fire engine.   
  
Think about the kids, Dare. Think about Karen.   
  
Think about--Oh, God, she's touching me again!  
  
"Brianna--" He paused at the scolding glare   
  
she gave him and swallowed, "*Bria*, just...try and   
  
hear me out one last time, alright?"  
  
Brianna nodded (as if she was really listening   
  
to what he was saying anyway) and wrapped her arms around   
  
Darien's neck, running blood red fingernails through his   
  
mane of ebony silk.  
  
"Yes, Dare Darling?" She cooed.  
  
Darien had the sinking feeling that she wasn't   
  
paying attention to a damned word he was trying to say   
  
but he continued, nonetheless.  
  
"Look. What you saw last weekend was--well, it   
  
was me and Serena kissing, obviously, but it has absolutely   
  
*nothing* to do with Camp or Karen or--" He gulped again and   
  
back-stepped when she stuck a hand in his back pocket, "Let's   
  
just take that outta there, shall we?" He forced a smile and   
  
removed the hand gripping his ass like a vise.  
  
Pouting slightly, Brianna took his hand in her own,   
  
brought it slowly to her lips and placed a moist kiss on his   
  
finger tips, finishing by taking his index finger between   
  
her lips and sucking.  
  
"Gah, Jesus!" Darien ripped his finger from her mouth   
  
and backed as far away as humany possible in the close quarters   
  
of the girls' cabin.  
  
This is going nowhere. He wiped his wet finger off  
  
on his shorts and tried again.   
  
"Brianna, your father can't shut down Camp Kiwachee.   
  
Not only is it crazy and completely unnecessary but it would   
  
hurt so many lives. Can't we just talk it out? You know, like   
  
mature adults?" He resolved to using Lita's bed as a barrier   
  
between them.  
  
For the first time, Brianna's eyes lost their sparks   
  
of lust and glazed over in annoyance.  
  
"But what about ME? And my ANKLE!" She lifted a   
  
bandaged foot off the floor and suddenly felt compelled to   
  
limp, though she had been perfectly fine nipping at Darien's   
  
heels all afternoon, not the least bit of pain tinging her   
  
heavily blushed face throughout.  
  
"I am a delicate, fragile young woman and that crazed   
  
camp-lady knew better than to put me in such an ATROCIOUS   
  
environment without the proper accomadations!" To put the   
  
icing on the cake, she managed to squeeze two fat tears out   
  
of her eyes, "And I'll p-probably never *gasp* be able to   
  
wear Jimmy Chu again!" She set the water works into full   
  
blast, "And I was his b-best customer!"  
  
Darien muffled his growl and clenched his fists.  
  
"So you're honestly telling me that getting your   
  
father to cut off sponsorship to this camp has NOTHING to   
  
do with Serena and me kissing?"  
  
Brianna glared. Hard. "Don't even mention that   
  
insufferable little wench's name in my presence!" Her eyes   
  
softened suddenly, "But don't worry, Darien," She slid up   
  
beside him again, "I know better than anyone how deceptive   
  
little girls can be," Her whispers slid over his ears like   
  
slime, "And I completely forgive you."  
  
Darien's blood practically boiled underneath his   
  
skin. He moved to spit fire at her, demand her to take back   
  
what she'd said about Serena, but she'd chosen that moment   
  
to launch a full assualt on his lips with her own, smearing   
  
red lip gloss all over his mouth and chin.  
  
The slam of a door broke him out of his stupor;   
  
angry footsteps pounding on wood echoed behind him as he   
  
shoved Brianna's distraught face away from his and whirled   
  
around. He caught a glimpse of gold whipping in the breeze   
  
before launching himself out of the door and down the steps,   
  
a bad taste spreading through his mouth like oil.  
  
Behind him Brianna shrieked, "Where do you think   
  
YOU are going?! COME BACK HERE! IF YOU GO AFTER HER YOU CAN   
  
JUST FORGET ABOUT CAMP KIWOOCHEE! DO YOU HEAR ME, DARIEN?   
  
DARIEEEEEEEEEEEENNNN!!!"  
  
But he was gone, sprinting down the dirt hill and   
  
past the mess hall, the back of Serena's fleeing body and   
  
how far he'd dug himself into the proverbial pit blocking   
  
out all of his senses.  
  
*******  
  
"Stupid, stupid, stupid, *OUCH!*, stupid, stupid,"   
  
Serena pounded across camp grounds, huffing and puffing,   
  
knocking through bushes and kicking anything that hindered   
  
her path towards--well, she wasn't sure where she was going,   
  
but she sure as hell was not going to stick around in that   
  
cabin watching her newest arch enemy tongue wrestle with her   
  
former arch enemy like something off of Sex and the City.   
  
Former...? She wondered when Darien-the-egotistical-and-  
  
obnoxiously-gorgeous-jerk had become a thing of the past.  
  
When the fifth shrub fell victim to the sole of   
  
her Nikes, she growled low and took an extra few seconds to   
  
grind it into the grass until it was nothing but a green blur.  
  
She couldn't believe she was actually going to apologize   
  
to that creep! And she wasn't even sure WHAT she had to apologize   
  
for. It was all his fault, anyway. Whatever it was that was   
  
making her so blindingly angry as to murder hapless greenery,   
  
she was sure Darien was to blame.  
  
She was disgusted to find that she'd been crying   
  
when she lashed her hand across her face to wipe away what   
  
she thought was sweat. A cool breeze dried the salty trails   
  
on her cheeks and ruffled her hair gently. Sighing, she tore   
  
her eyes open, having barely realized she'd closed them in   
  
the process, only to find herself standing in front of   
  
Lake Kiwachee.   
  
"Of course!" She yelled to the placid waters,   
  
"Of COURSE I'd come here." Sniffling, she stormed away from  
  
the bank and towards the docks. It was Friday, the last day   
  
of camp--forever.   
  
Karen and she had spent hours talking over the situation   
  
the night before. Serena had begged her not to give up, to get a   
  
lawyer and fight back, but Karen had only given a defeated sigh   
  
and shook her head wearily. Serena knew it was a lost cause.  
  
So this was it. Mina and the other female counselors   
  
were helping the campers pack up their few belongings into Hello   
  
Kitty duffle bags and Blues Clues backpacks, while the senior   
  
male counselors went about gathering all the extra things they'd   
  
need to bring back to the orphanage.   
  
A brand new shiny Greyhound had rumbled into the   
  
driveway at the crack of dawn that morning, a consolation   
  
gift from Lawson & Bedford Inc., complete with a balding   
  
driver who smelled curiously of chewing tobacco and moth   
  
balls. Mr. Lawson was due to make his grand arrival at   
  
3:30 that afternoon to escort his daughter from the camp   
  
via chopper and have his lawyer deal with all the legal   
  
handlings concerning his revoked sponsorship on his own.  
  
Brianna had let it slip that her father would not only  
  
be ending his sponsorship, but buying out Camp Kiwachee to be  
  
replaced with a strip-mall. And if that didn't add insult to   
  
injury, the fact that the old plantation house she and Darien  
  
had taken refuge in the week before had been bought from its  
  
embezzling owner and would soon become infested with acne-faced   
  
teenagers fighting over the last Big Mac.  
  
Karen hadn't had the heart to break the news to the   
  
children yet and only the counselors could see the tears she   
  
sucked up during the annual camp photo that had been snapped on   
  
the very dock Serena now stormed across the previous afternoon.  
  
The corners of her mouth begrudgingly turned upwards   
  
at the memory of Jason sneaking in a kiss on Raye's cheek right   
  
before the flash went off. It had taken three of the largest male   
  
counselors to fish him out of the lake and five whole hours before   
  
they finally quit busting on him for forgetting to bring his   
  
floaties.  
  
They'd gone to bed full of a special chocolate cake,   
  
compliments of Lita Kino, and reeling from an over-dosage of   
  
a Disney inspired party, this time leaving their ears ringing   
  
from repeated playings of "Hakuna Matata."  
  
And Serena was probably the most miserable of them all.   
  
She'd barely set foot on Camp Kiwachee's soil before it had all   
  
come tumbling down, thanks to her and her stupid hormones. Guilt   
  
couldn't begin to describe it.  
  
But feeling guilty about it would get her absolutely   
  
no where, even she could see that, which was why she'd resorted   
  
to blaming it all on Darien. And that brings us back to the   
  
present.   
  
Serena stared across the rippling lake and swung her   
  
feet over the edge, leaning back on her palms and soaking up  
  
the sun's rays. Try as she might, Darien and Brianna's   
  
slobbering visages refused to leave her thoughts and she   
  
swung her legs even harder, barely flinching when one   
  
of her feet dipped into the frigid lake water.  
  
Fine. Let them be together. They're perfect for   
  
each other. She was now purposefully flinging her feet into   
  
the water and splashing it all over the place.  
  
'Snookums, please all me Bria', 'Oh, Dare DAR-ling,   
  
could you open up this can of Diet Coke for me. I've just had   
  
my oh-so precious nails done.'  
  
"Puh!" Serena spat. True, she'd never actually HEARD   
  
Brianna call Darien 'snookums', but it sure did sound like   
  
something the obnoxious red-head would call him.  
  
What she wouldn't give to rip out every single last   
  
strand of tomato colored hair from Brianna's over-inflated   
  
head. She wondered if it might actually float away without   
  
the ten pounds of hair spray to weigh it down anymore.   
  
With those thoughts playing evily inside her mind,   
  
Serena grinned and laid back on the wooden pier, hands folded   
  
underneath her head and eyes making out objects in the puffy   
  
white clouds floating lethargically across the vivid blue sky.   
  
Even when one of them began to look unmistakably like a   
  
certain blue-eyed jerk, she didn't stop the sigh that   
  
escaped her lips.  
  
  
  
********  
  
"I can't believe you talked me into this!" Amy   
  
grumbled, stomping over to her bookbag and ruffling through  
  
it. She was trying desperately to look stern. Unfortunately, she   
  
was incapable of actually pulling off what she and others had  
  
dubbed a "Raye" and had to settle for a tight frown.  
  
Mina tapped her foot impatiently beside her, casting  
  
a nervous look at the clock. 2:17 PM. That gave them thirteen  
  
minutes to get back to the cabin.   
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. This is immature and wrong  
  
and we shouldn't be this cruel. We've all heard it a thousand  
  
times by now, Ames." She grinned coyly at her scowling friend  
  
and squealed when Amy plopped her five-hundred dollar Sony Digital  
  
Camera into her palms. Amy had spent an entire eight weeks slaving   
  
away at a part-time job at a computer software store to save up   
  
for it so she could tape the progress of her various science   
  
projects for further experimentation and could hardly  
  
believe that it was being put to such childish use.  
  
Biting her lip, Amy fought to let go. When an arm snaked   
  
around her shoulders and squeezed comfortingly, she turned and   
  
stared into Zach's reassuring eyes. She winced as her fingers  
  
slowly uncoiled from around the silver object.  
  
Mina bounced with excitment, eliciting an exasperated sigh  
  
from Raye and a twitch from Kyle's set mouth.  
  
"Ames, you are a lifesaver!" Turning around, Mina smothered   
  
her smile and gave everyone who had gathered in the mess hall an authoritative glare.  
  
"Now. Everyone knows what to do, right?"   
  
Collective nods and a snicker from Jason.  
  
"Good." She gave her watch a final look. "Alright,  
  
It's 2:23. Brianna usually starts around 2:30 so we HAVE to   
  
be ready in...seven minutes!" Suddenly, she started shouting   
  
commands as if the Russian Army was about to drop a nuclear   
  
warhead on their heads, "GO! GO! GO! Raye and Kyle get the   
  
ladder and get to our cabin ASAP, I'll meet you there in a  
  
few. Lita and Matt keep the kids and Karen AWAY from the  
  
cabins! Jason...uh...just sit there and look cute, OK?"   
  
"Hey! I'd like to think that my devestatingly good   
  
looks aren't the only thing I'm good for!" Jason scowled and   
  
crossed his arms over his chest defiantly.  
  
Mina grinned sheepishly, "Aw, we love your sense of   
  
humor, too!"  
  
Jason gave her a mocking smile which was quickly   
  
smothered by the boyish grin he flashed at Raye before she   
  
could cause any bodily harm to him. Mina watched as everyone   
  
scattered.  
  
Now only she, Amy and Zach were left.   
  
"As for you two, " She fiddled nervously with the camera   
  
in between her fingers and bit her lip. Staring bewilderedly at the   
  
endless variety of buttons and keys on it, she scrunched up her nose,   
  
"Show me how to work this thing."  
  
******  
  
"Ssshhh! Watch it!" Raye whispered harshly to Kyle who  
  
was struggling to hold the ladder steady on his shoulder and push  
  
his way through the jungle of bushes located beneath the cabin's   
  
windows at the same time.  
  
He risked glaring at the impatient girl standing before him  
  
and shifted the ladder's weight. He mumbled incoherently underneath  
  
his breath and reminded himself to stick up for Jason the next time  
  
the guys gave him a hard time about something. The poor kid must have  
  
been emotionally scarred from having to endure 24 hours of Raye everyday.   
  
He couldn't even begin to imagine what dating her would be like.  
  
Raye ignored his glare and gazed up at the window, wondering  
  
why it had to be so freaking high anyway. Good thing Kyle was the next  
  
best thing to the Jolly Green Giant. No one else could reach it, even  
  
with the aid of a ladder.  
  
She held the metal railings steady as Kyle carefully stepped  
  
onto it, throwing her a reproachful gaze as if she would at any moment  
  
start jiggling it for fun. He was deathly afraid of heights as it   
  
was.  
  
Raye sighed at him, "I've got it, don't worry."   
  
Fat chance. Kyle muttered subconciously and took another  
  
cautious step up. He managed to get up a few more before Raye spoke  
  
abruptly, throwing him dangerously off balance.  
  
"So, you're trying to get with my best friend, huh?"  
  
If it hadn't been for the lethal grip he had on the sides  
  
of the ladder, Kyle was sure he would have become greatly acquainted  
  
with the ground at that moment.  
  
"Uh-hem. Can we discuss this some other time? Like when   
  
I'm not climbing a ladder?" He didn't dare look down at her.   
  
Raye shrugged. "You better not screw around with her, Warner."  
  
Kyle gulped. The culmination of potentially falling off a ladder  
  
and being decked by a 17 year old girl did little to ease his dwindling  
  
nerves.  
  
"You're a good friend, Raye," He managed to choke out, "Good,  
  
but kinda scary. And I wouldn't hurt Mina in any way intentionally."  
  
Raye seemed pleased with his words and grinned.  
  
"See anything yet?" She glanced over her shoulder. Mina  
  
was taking forever with that stupid camera. And she didn't even   
  
know what they were filming. All Mina had told them was that whatever   
  
was going to save the camp from being turned into a strip-mall would   
  
be occurring at 2:30 in their cabin that day. She tried to remind   
  
herself that Mina wasn't as air-headed as she seemed to be and   
  
that she was fully capable of going through with her goals and   
  
succeeding.  
  
Just when Kyle was about to open his mouth to answer her,   
  
the loud 'BOOM BOOM' of a CD player emerged from the open window.  
  
"Here we go," Kyle said underneath his breath.  
  
A loud rustling of leaves startled them both out of their  
  
thoughts, and Kyle nearly fell off the ladder for the second time  
  
in the last five minutes. He mentally swore to God that he'd never  
  
commit a sin for the rest of his mortal life if He just let him live  
  
through this afternoon.  
  
Mina's slightly flushed face appeared within the mass of   
  
branches and Raye let out a sigh of relief.  
  
"About time, Mina!"  
  
Mina took a second to glare at her friend and produced  
  
the camera from the bag slung over her shoulder. It had taken   
  
extra begging on both her and Zach's part to convince Amy to   
  
give up one of her Hyrdoglycerin documentations for their use,  
  
but they'd managed to somehow pull it off.  
  
"Cool it, Raye." Mina carefully stepped onto the ladder  
  
to hand over the camera to Kyle, who set it gently on the window  
  
ledge, closing the window on it so that it wouldn't fall off.  
  
As he did so, he caught a glimpse of the scene from inside  
  
and had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing out  
  
right.  
  
Down on solid ground, Mina and Raye were quietly watching  
  
him.  
  
"Now will you tell us what exactly we're supposed to be   
  
filming and how you're the only one who knows about it, Mina?" Raye   
  
asked, amazed at how even she hadn't been aware of what went on   
  
behind the closed doors of Cabin C while they were busy making   
  
birdhouses and Indian head dresses out of feathers and paper   
  
plates.  
  
Mina grinned, "As for your first question, no. The   
  
second, I'm just good, that's all," She giggled, visibly pleased   
  
with herself, and a mischevious glint sparkled in her eyes, "And   
  
the real show doesn't even start for another 30 minutes at least."   
  
Kyle gingerly descended the ladder, inwardly elated that  
  
they would have a chance to put Brianna Lawson in her place. When  
  
his feet touched ground, he could have kissed it, but being the   
  
manly man he was, he merely let out a large breath and chanced a   
  
smile at Mina.  
  
Tugging his elbow and Raye's shirt, she dragged them out  
  
of the bushes, "Come on. I know where we can get a better view."  
  
Raye and Kyle couldn't help but grin silently at each  
  
other.  
  
*******  
  
It hadn't taken much work on Darien's part to track down  
  
Serena after she'd run away like the demons of hell were nipping  
  
at her heels. All he had to do was follow the trail of brutalized  
  
foliage.  
  
Slightly out of breath, he took his time covering the distance  
  
down the length of the pier. At the end, Serena was lying on her back, seemingly oblivious to his existence and staring silently up at the sky.   
  
She looked beautiful. It nearly knocked him over, experiencing  
  
the full impact of how genuinely amazing she was as if he were just  
  
meeting her for the first time.   
  
When he was within a few feet of her and she still hadn't  
  
stirred, he inhaled deeply, shook his head of all blundering thoughts   
  
about her apppearance and loomed over her body, casting a shadow   
  
across her placid face.  
  
  
  
I must be getting sleepy. This cloud is starting to look   
  
a lot less cloud-like and a lot more...Darien-like. I'm delirious.  
  
Completely and utterly--  
  
"Serena...?"  
  
Serena shot up like a bolt of lightening, reality smacking her  
  
in the face like a two-ton load of bricks.  
  
Darien grinned bemusedly and watched her scramble to her feet.  
  
"Sorry," He automatically stated. He didn't really know what   
  
he was sorry for, though. Scaring the living day-lights out of her, or  
  
for being mauled by Brianna earlier?  
  
Serena dusted off her hands on her jeans and stared at him   
  
blankly.   
  
Darien gave a weak smile that sent the butterflies in her  
  
stomach into over-drive and nearly knocked her into the lake, but  
  
all possiblity of such an occurrence was lost when she noticed   
  
familiar fire engine red lip gloss smeared across his lips  
  
and chin.   
  
"You know, red just might be your color, Darien," She   
  
brushed past him, all anger and resentment flooding back   
  
into her mind instantly at the disgusting sight.  
  
Darien stared at her retreating back with a perplexed   
  
frown before it finally dawned on him. Cursing his stupidity,   
  
he lashed the back of his hand across his mouth and started   
  
after her.  
  
"Serena, wait."  
  
She halted but didn't turn around. He took her silence as   
  
an invitation to go on.   
  
"Uh..." Come on, Darien. Think of something. Something  
  
that doesn't sound totally moronic. "I've heard I look better  
  
in blue."  
  
DING DING DING!!! And we have a winner for the world's   
  
biggest idiot! He really could have (and should've, if you   
  
ask me) smacked himself.  
  
Serena winced inwardly and whirled on him.  
  
"You can't be serious."  
  
Darien raked a nervous hand through his hair and exhaled.  
  
"OK. That wasn't what I meant to say."  
  
"Well then? What did you *mean* to say? Because I have some  
  
packing I need to do before we leave today. And if you haven't   
  
forgotten, you were just swapping spit with the REASON this place  
  
is going to become home to the next Baby GAP."   
  
Inside her pants pockets she had locked her hands into   
  
fists, begging for the cool frown on her face to stay there.  
  
Darien's patience snapped. "You know, I'm just as upset   
  
as you are about the camp being shut down. Probably more, for   
  
that matter. So I'd appreciate it if you'd stop for just two   
  
seconds and hear me out instead of running away from me all the   
  
time!" He was breathing hard now, unsure of what her reaction   
  
would be to his outburst but feeling strangely calm all of   
  
a sudden.  
  
Serena stared at him for what could have only been  
  
seconds but felt like eternity for both of them.   
  
Suddenly, to both of their shock, she reached out one  
  
of her hands towards his face and smeared away a blotch of   
  
sticky red left on his chin.  
  
"You missed a spot," she stated bitterly.  
  
"I didn't kiss her back."  
  
"It's not about that, Darien."  
  
"Then tell me what it *is* about, Serena."  
  
She was taken aback. Why *was* she acting so out of  
  
character? She had never remembered feeling so angry and   
  
miserable and dizzy at the same time before. But what she did   
  
recall was how big of a jerk she'd been to Darien over the   
  
past few days.   
  
"You're right," She kicked the ground with the toe of her  
  
shoe, not trusting herself to meet his gaze, "I didn't even think  
  
about what losing this place would do to you...I'm sorry."  
  
Darien's hardened gaze melted and he could barely find the  
  
nerve to be angry at her anymore.  
  
"It's not about me. I've had my time here and I'll always  
  
have those memories," He paused and took a long look across the  
  
lake, "But these kids--all they've got is Karen and the helpers  
  
at the orphanage. This is the one place they can go where people  
  
don't stare in the windows, feeling sorry for them for not   
  
having parents. You know, where they can feel *normal* for a   
  
change and not like they're rejects of the human population."  
  
As her eyes filled steadily, Serena slipped her hand into  
  
Darien's and squeezed, praying that it would in any way comfort  
  
him.  
  
"It's not fair," She managed to get out over the lump  
  
rising in her throat, "How can she be so--so selfish?" A deep  
  
hate boiled within her chest for Brianna and she gritted her  
  
teeth, unconciously squeezing Darien's hand so tight that the  
  
blood had to fight to circulate through his fingers.  
  
He ignored the numbing in his hand and wrapped an arm  
  
around her shoulders, pulling her to him in a loose embrace.  
  
"I'm not giving up. There has to be a way to stop this.  
  
When Lawson arrives, I'm going to do whatever it takes to  
  
change his mind." His voice was so determined, so strong.   
  
Serena couldn't help but believe every word he'd said and   
  
new hope swelled inside of her.  
  
She leaned into his body more and looked up at his   
  
profile. When he felt her gaze on him, he gazed down at her   
  
and at the incredible amount of sincerity and strength   
  
illuminated in her eyes.  
  
"You *and* me."  
  
The grin that split across his face made her heart rise up  
  
in her throat and her feet seem to leave the ground.  
  
"That's right, Meatball Head. You and me."  
  
*******  
  
8/22  
  
CRITIQUE CRITIQUE CRITIQUE CRITIQUE CRITIQUE CRITIQUE!!! 


	9. 9 Lawsons' Blunder

I'm squinting right now...can you see? I'm so terribly  
  
sorry for this long wait, you guys! I'm SO SO SO SO SO SO  
  
sorry. I really hope you haven't forgotten about my little  
  
camp story, and that you still want to give it a chance...  
  
please...for me? *bats eyelashes*  
  
I really hope you like this final chapter! Give me all your  
  
opinions afterwards, too. I hope it was worth the unGodly  
  
long wait. Thanks again!  
  
--Adrial--  
  
*****************************  
  
Last time in Ch. 8---  
  
"I'm not giving up. There has to be a way to stop this.  
  
When Lawson arrives, I'm going to do whatever it takes to  
  
change his mind." Darien's voice was so determined, so strong.   
  
Serena couldn't help but believe every word he'd said and   
  
new hope swelled inside of her.  
  
She leaned into his body more and looked up at his   
  
profile. When he felt her gaze on him, he gazed down at her   
  
and at the incredible amount of sincerity and strength   
  
illuminated in her eyes.  
  
"You *and* me."  
  
The grin that split across his face made her heart rise up  
  
in her throat and her feet seem to leave the ground.  
  
"That's right, Meatball Head. You and me."  
  
***********************************************  
  
*****************************  
  
"Camp Kiwachee"  
  
Chapter 9: Lawsons' Blunder  
  
Author: Adrial  
  
E-mail: Adrial_06@yahoo.com  
  
*****************************  
  
Meanwhile in Cabin C...  
  
"And 1 and 2 and 3 and 4, COME ON! I know you can do it!  
  
6, 7, 8, 9, feel the burn ladies!"   
  
Puffing and dripping with sweat, Brianna wiped her brow   
  
and crunched her abs as hard as she could bear, raising bearly  
  
three inches from the floor before falling back again.  
  
"Feel-the...BURRRN!" She huffed out, forcing out her   
  
500th sit-up. She remained on the ground, chest rising and falling   
  
heavily, and lifted a heavy hand to punch the STOP button on the DVD   
  
player she'd had installed the day before. Alexia "Abs" Walker's   
  
chipper voice cut off abruptly as she deomonstrated a flying   
  
squirrel squat to a team of anorexic teenagers.   
  
Daddy Lawson was bringing a camera crew with him  
  
when he arrived, and there was no way any social society could   
  
see Brianna Lawson bloated. She cursed her feminity and popped a   
  
Midol between her lips, guzzling it down with half her liter of   
  
water. Unlike her scatter-brained, bulemic "friends", she adamantly   
  
refused to take laxatives to lose weight. (But only her gyno   
  
knew that they gave her a rash).  
  
Raye snorted loudly from her perch outside their cabin. She,  
  
Mina, Kyle, Amy, Jason, Lita, Matt and Zach were all squeezed together   
  
on the hill that sat on the opposite side of the building, watching   
  
Brianna's hilarious work-out session through a window pane and trying desperately to contain their laughter.  
  
Mina slapped Raye's arm, unable to hold back her grin, though.  
  
"Wait," She whispered, "It get's better."  
  
Jason and Zach rubbed their hands together in anticipation.  
  
Oblivious to the fact that she was putting on a show, Brianna  
  
heaved her sweating body from the floor and walked over to her vanity.  
  
Mascara had drizzled down her cheeks in inky squiggles and dripped off  
  
her jawbone and onto her lap unchecked, doing little to improve her  
  
sodden appearance.  
  
"Damn these things," She muttered, tearing her hands through her   
  
incredibly messy and sweaty hair and removing various clips from   
  
within the mass of red. Beneath the sweaty layers of skin, her muscles  
  
were screaming and felt as if they were being cortorted into un-Godly  
  
positions.  
  
Ignoring the pain, she stared frustratedly into the mirror  
  
and tore her hands through her hair faster.  
  
Jason and Zach exchanged dumbfounded expressions, and Mina  
  
was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet, which annoyed Raye   
  
who was trying to watch over her head bobbing up and down repeatedly.  
  
  
  
Brianna sighed and stood up, stretching like a chershire  
  
cat--a chershire cat with a crew cut.  
  
The mop of blazing hair that had been actually ON her  
  
head (Zach and Jason would soon testify that such had exactly  
  
been the case two minutes before) was now a mound of red tangles  
  
on the dresser.   
  
  
  
Mina gasped, ignoring her friends's muffled squeals of   
  
utter histeria, and watched the figure walking towards the cabin.  
  
She gave a sigh of relief when it turned out to only be Serena. Only  
  
Ser-  
  
"OH MY GOD! NO!" She exclaimed, scrambling to stand. But  
  
she was too late; they all watched as Serena swung open the screen  
  
door and entered the room. Everyone but Matt squinted their eyes,  
  
knowing what would happen.  
  
...  
  
"Alright. Why isn't she covered in left over beef-o-roni  
  
and screaming bloody murder?" Mina questioned, staring accusingly   
  
at Matt.  
  
He snapped his fingers. "I knew I forgot something!"  
  
"OW!"  
  
Lita didn't stop there and began raining blows on his head  
  
and anywhere else she could get to until he was rolled up into a   
  
ball on the ground, whimpering for help.   
  
Mina rolled her eyes. But at least they'd gotten the cake.  
  
They could live without icing.   
  
From the doorway, Serena nearly choked on the wad of   
  
bubblegum she had been working on chewing before stumbling   
  
upon what could have possibly been the most disturbing sight   
  
she'd ever seen in her life.  
  
Brianna fingered her boyishly short hair with disgusted   
  
strokes and scoffed, stuffing the mound of tangled hair into a   
  
bag and picking up her shower caddy.  
  
Deciding it was better to let Brianna know she was no   
  
longer alone, Serena cleared her throat loudly and stepped into   
  
the room.  
  
"Lovely afternoon, isn't it?" She bit down her giggles   
  
and rushed past the the girl's sheet white face and to her bed   
  
where a lone suitcase lay open with a few shirts folded (more   
  
like rolled into balls that slightly resembled clothing) inside.  
  
Snapping back into reality, Brianna shrieked and stormed   
  
over to the grinning blonde, anxiously smoothing down the uneven   
  
strands of hair near her forehead.  
  
"How much did you see?" She grabbed Serena's arm roughly,   
  
forcing her to look into her furious green eyes. Serena began to  
  
doubt that even they were real.  
  
All she could do was snort and succomb to the   
  
laughter aching at the back of her throat.  
  
"Too much, obviously," She managed to get out.  
  
Growling, Brianna tightened her grip and spat, "You   
  
tell anyone about this and I'll rip out those horribly revolting   
  
little blonde meatballs you're so fond of."  
  
Serena glared at her and pryed her fingers off of her   
  
bruising arm.  
  
"Well I'm sure you could get me a good deal on a wig, BRIA."   
  
The blue of her eyes flashed, and she brushed past her, turning   
  
around with a coy smile and adding, "Or should I say, G.I. Jane?"   
  
Grinning at her cleverness, she began to throw all of her   
  
clothing into the suitcase hapazardly.  
  
Brianna growled and stumbled clumsily back in front of   
  
her, "Listen you two-faced little bi-"  
  
"Nuh-uh uh. Play nice," Serena advised, an uncharacteristic  
  
sneer spreading across her face.  
  
Brianna paused for a moment, nearly to the point of   
  
attacking the insufferable girl in front of her, but the thought  
  
of a ruined reputation forced her lips to purse and fear to rise  
  
the auburn hair on her neck.  
  
"Please, Serena. If this gets out, I'd be ruined!"  
  
Serena stared at her blankly for a moment, tabulating every  
  
cruel and obnoxious thing Brianna had put her through the past two  
  
weeks and fighting to keep them running through her mind.   
  
Brianna's bottom lip successfully began to tremble and she  
  
opened her large 'green' (--Questionable? Yes.) eyes as wide as   
  
she could without them actually popping out.  
  
And Serena relented. Damn her mother for teaching her   
  
morals. She promised herself the minute she got home that she  
  
would write a letter to Barney and Seasame Street complaining  
  
that loyalty and kindness were a load of crap and that what kids  
  
should be learning is how to seek revenge properly--No mercy.  
  
"Lucky for you, Brianna, I'm not that cruel," She hated  
  
every stupid word she'd said, but she forced them out anyway,  
  
making sure they were laden with as much hate and contempt as she  
  
could muster.  
  
Brianna's eyes popped back in their sockets and she  
  
was close to tackling Serena to the ground (though she would  
  
have stopped herself before touching someone of such a lower   
  
standing than herself at the risk of contamination) but a door   
  
slammed and they both whirled around.  
  
"But we are."  
  
Serena gasped. Mina, Raye, Lita, and Amy (with a resentful   
  
frown on her pretty face) were standing in the doorway, and Jason shoved   
  
his way through, jiggling a camera in his hand and smirking.  
  
"Say Bloomingdales!"  
  
"N-" Was all Brianna got out before the camera flashed,  
  
capturing the image for all of blissful eternity.   
  
When the blurry lights ceased to flash in front of her,  
  
Brianna shrieked.  
  
"YOU!" She lunged at Jason, who stepped out of the way  
  
before she could maul him with her outstretched fingernails. Raye   
  
and Lita took it upon themselves to restrain her, and Mina produced   
  
Amy's beloved video camera, having already rewound the tape to   
  
play back Brianna's work out session and removal of faux-hair.   
  
At that moment Serena could have kissed all of her  
  
friends, but the deafening roar of a helicopter exploded around   
  
them suddenly. She quickly covered her ears to smother the  
  
escalating noise lest they rupture her ear drums.  
  
Everyone followed suit, and Mina quickly ushered Serena   
  
out of the door.  
  
"Go, Serena! We'll handle her! Get to Karen before she  
  
starts signing anything!"  
  
Serena cast Brianna one more disgusted look and flung  
  
her arms around Mina's shoulders in a speedy embrace before   
  
taking off towards the baseball field where the chopper would  
  
be landing. In the distance Darien stood waiting for her, an  
  
anxious expression covering his face. But as soon as he saw her   
  
racing towards him, all anxiety melted away and he could  
  
barely hear the chopper anymore over the beating of his   
  
own heart.  
  
Serena had no idea what kind of fight she'd be able to   
  
put up against Lawson, but for some reason, knowing that Darien   
  
would be right there beside her and fighting, too, made her   
  
believe that as long as they were together they'd be able   
  
to do anything.  
  
  
  
*****  
  
"Take her down easy, Leon!" Frederick Lawson   
  
adjusted the silk tie on his neck and flicked invisible  
  
dust from a blazer that reaked of Armani and one-thousand  
  
dollar bills.  
  
The burly man who was piloting the chopper wrapped his   
  
hand firmly around the joystick and nodded with a grunt.  
  
The thick blanket of green waiting beneath them   
  
rustled and blew in all directions, as if it knew the  
  
kind of powerful cargo the incoming helicopter held and   
  
what it could potentially do to their home for the past  
  
million or so years.  
  
Lawson's secretary, a meek quiet little thing with  
  
coke bottle glasses and wide, brown eyes flitted around  
  
her boss combing his extra-gelled hair, spit-shining his  
  
glossy black shoes ("Minerva! What the hell do you   
  
think you're doing?!"), and running a lint-roller up and   
  
down his suit.  
  
"Fifty news broadcasters, Mr. Lawson. Fifty." She  
  
stressed each word as if it would mean something   
  
more if she did so and started to re-adjust his tie.  
  
Sure enough, outside, camera crews and news anchors   
  
were spilling out of vans and cars and piling around the landing   
  
area with notepads and tape-recorders clasped in their hands and   
  
eager, blood-sucking looks plastered across their faces.  
  
"Is that Angela Segal from Channel 6?" Lawson squinted  
  
his eyes through his sunglasses and scowled, "That nosy wench  
  
was the cause of my third divorce."  
  
"Forth, boss," Minerva muttered and slapped his hand  
  
away from his glass of wine, "You've already had three, sir!"  
  
"Oh, pish posh," He retorted but let go of the glass   
  
anyway.  
  
"Brace yourselves!" Came the call from the cockpit.   
  
Lawson and his eerily silent lawyer remained calm, whereas   
  
Minerva squinted her eyes shut and gripped her briefcase until   
  
her knuckles turned white.   
  
Reginald Scott sat in the farthest corner, probably   
  
performing some lawyer-like ritual in which one prepares to lie   
  
through his/her professionally bleached teeth much like the time   
  
Frederick was caught feeling up his housemaid by his second   
  
(or was it third?) wife. Scott had to convince her that Frederick   
  
was merely retrieving his pen, which had accidentally fallen   
  
between Veronica's legs when she'd been stradling his waist   
  
peforming CPR on him because he'd suddenly passed out.   
  
From stress, you know.  
  
Sadly, it was true. Frederick's choice of significant  
  
others became dumber and dumber as the months rolled on, but  
  
it was just as well. He kept them happy with sprees on the   
  
Champs Elysèe and yahts in the Carribean, and they, in return,   
  
asked no questions.  
  
The chopper landed with an abrupt jolt and Minerva  
  
immediately began taking deep, urgent breaths, accepting the  
  
tissue Frederick held out to her with a bored expression and  
  
began dabbing at her forehead and neck.  
  
Reginald suddenly came to life, rattling off his  
  
traditional lawyer mumbo-jumbo (a lot of BS, as Raye would   
  
have so eloquently put it) to Frederick who had heard it a   
  
million times already and was half listening as he patted down   
  
his hair (that was so stiff, it looked like El Niño itself   
  
couldn't have made one strand budge) in front of the mirror   
  
Minerva was now holding up for him.  
  
"Perfect," He stated with a sleezy, business-like   
  
smirk.  
  
Outside, the buzz was more deafening than the helicopter  
  
itself as reporters quickly introduced the segment to cameras and  
  
readied themselves for the interview of their life. The NY Times'   
  
Elizabeth Maleski hurriedly prattled off what would become the   
  
headline for all major newspapers within a few hours:  
  
BUSINESS TYCOON FREDERICK LAWSON TAKES OVER ORPHAN CAMP:   
  
Like Taking Candy from a Baby.  
  
  
  
In the midst of chaos, Karen stuffed her trembling hands   
  
deep into her pockets and gulped. Mr. Lawson had offered her an  
  
unimaginable sum of money when he'd revoked his sponsorship and bought  
  
the land Karen would have otherwise been forced to sell. She had   
  
no choice but to take it. She tried to think of what good the   
  
money would do for the orphanage, but even that couldn't ease   
  
the throbbing in her heart.  
  
  
  
  
  
Reginald called the crowd to order, gripping the sides  
  
of a wooden, portable podium (you never know when you might need  
  
to make a speech to millions of people watching live) with practiced  
  
ease and began his statement on behalf of his client.   
  
"The intentions of my client, Mr. Frederick Lawson III,  
  
are not to destroy the happiness of children unfortunate enough  
  
to be without parents; However, he, by purchasing this land from  
  
Miss Karen Ellerby, will prolong their happiness by creating a   
  
place where children of all ages might enjoy themselves.   
  
Juuban Orphanage has monopolized this land for far too  
  
long. Its buildings are falling upon the very foundations they  
  
were built. Mr. Lawson's daughter, herself, suffered a broken  
  
ankle just three days ago in one of the camp's many crumbling  
  
facilities. Imagine what would happen if one of these children  
  
suffered such an injury? Undoubtedly, the orphanage's insurance  
  
could not cover the cost. It is unsafe and unhumane to allow   
  
this camp to proceed any further, and that is why my client   
  
has opened his heart and his mind to embrace what might   
  
become of this unkempt land.   
  
Do not seek to paint Mr. Lawson as a vicious  
  
thief, but see the selflessness with which he extends his  
  
fortune to help these children better their own lives. What  
  
is one week at summer camp when measured against years of   
  
commercial success for a place that has been isolated for  
  
decades by one small organization?  
  
Mr. Lawson does not wish to see lives ruined, but  
  
more created for those lives. He intends to give, not take  
  
away. We thank for your time, and now I believe we have some   
  
papers to sign, isn't that right, Ms. Ellerby?" He turned   
  
his beatle-like eyes and greasy grin to Karen. She didn't   
  
bother to hide her scowl of contempt as she walked forward,   
  
issuing more questions from the reporters and the  
  
flashes of countless cameras.  
  
"Miss Ellerby, how does it feel to be giving up this camp  
  
after running it for the past two decades?"  
  
"Miss Ellerby, where will the children go next summer?"  
  
"Do you have any thoughts on the destruction of Camp Kachobee?"  
  
"Do the children cry at night?"  
  
"It's to my knowledge that you and Mr. Lawson are romantically  
  
involved, would you like to comment?"  
  
"Miss Ellerby, how do *you* sleep at ni-"  
  
"THAT will be enough!" Barked Karen's respective attorney.  
  
He straightened his polyester tie and cleared his throat at the  
  
silence that ensued.  
  
"No, Miss Ellerby will not be making any statements as of  
  
now. If you wish to have your petty questions answered, you may  
  
attend the press conference scheduled for next week at Lawson's  
  
New York location in Greenwich Village."  
  
Karen touched his arm and gave him a grim smile.  
  
"Actually. Miss Ellerby would like to make a brief statement."  
  
She walked steadily towards the podium and raked a hand through her  
  
graying hair.  
  
  
  
"WAIT!!" Two voices boomed over her first words, followed by  
  
the collapse of many reporters and cries of "Oops!" and threats of  
  
lawsuits until they were able to break through.  
  
Serena panted, hair astray and the sleeve of her shirt  
  
ripped. Darien's clothing remained in tact, but his face was   
  
distraught and hair equally crappy looking.  
  
Neither cared.  
  
"Don't sign anything, Karen!" Serena ripped Karen away  
  
from the mic and from the crowd. Darien gave Mr. Lawson a healthy  
  
glare and followed them.  
  
Karen's face was between utter shock and complete awe.  
  
"Serena? Darien? What are you doing?" She whispered so as  
  
not to be overheard. She could practically see the reporter's ears  
  
stretching out by the inch to eavesdrop on their conversation.  
  
Serena swallowed over her parched throat, "You can't give   
  
up like this, Karen."  
  
Darien nodded and grabbed her hands, "Because you love this  
  
place too much to just forget about it."  
  
"Because you know what these kids are losing."  
  
"And because we won't let you," Darien finished.  
  
Karen stared at them, wondering if she should listen to  
  
what they were saying. She desperately wanted to. She knew they  
  
were right, but she also knew that she didn't have any other option.  
  
"Oh, Darien...Serena..." She forced out the words, "It's over."  
  
"NOOOOO!!!!"   
  
  
  
Darien, Serena, and Karen whipped around, throwing their  
  
hands over their ears in the process to ease the piercing shriek   
  
that bombarded their eardrums like a thousand sledge hammers.  
  
Looking as if she'd just been run through a car wash (sans the  
  
actual car) and then rolled down a very uneven hill, Brianna hurtled   
  
herself through the crowd and to her father. In the distance, 8 bodies  
  
jogged closely after her.  
  
Serena and Darien exchanged glances. She hadn't had time   
  
to tell him about her startling discovery about Brianna's fetish   
  
for fake hair, but she didn't think it mattered anyway. One   
  
photograph of a bald Brianna would only embarass the hell out   
  
of her, not save the camp.   
  
I think... She thought to herself, unable to stop   
  
the lurch of hope that jumped into her throat.  
  
When Brianna reached her father, it was clear that   
  
she'd been through hell and back up at the cabin. She'd   
  
thrown an old baseball cap, which Darien recognized as the  
  
one he'd seen Jason wearing earlier that afternoon, over her   
  
head. It did little to compliment her crisp black business   
  
suit (she'd had it specially made for the occasion),   
  
though, and she grabbed her father's shoulders, dragging   
  
him away. When they were a safe distance away from the throng  
  
of nosey reporters, she spoke.  
  
"Daddy you can't buy the camp!"   
  
"But, Sweet Pea, I've already--"  
  
"No, Daddy! It was all my fault! I-I fell on my own!"  
  
"Brianna, sweetheart, light of my life," He threw a nervous  
  
glance behind his shoulder at the buzzing crowd, "What the HELL   
  
are you going on about?"  
  
"Listen to me! You can NOT buy this camp."  
  
"Are you kidding me? I've been planning to snatch up   
  
this property ever since I started sponsoring the godforsaken   
  
dump!"  
  
"Uh...what about the-the children?" It appeared being   
  
sincere was not one of Brianna's strong-points as her nose  
  
scrunched up before it got a sniff of her own faux sincerity.  
  
"What about the little brats? I'm talking billions of   
  
dollars in profits. Do you have any idea what is at stake here?"  
  
"Daddy, but-"  
  
"If I'd have known sending you here as a ploy would   
  
have turned you into some kind of blasted humanitarian, I   
  
would have divorced Sharon weeks ago and sent you to Maui   
  
like we'd planned."  
  
"Cheryl, Daddy."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
"And what do you mean *ploy*?"   
  
"I mean that I had to have an excuse to revoke my  
  
contract. Do you realize what kind of politcal hell it would   
  
raise if I stopped funding some wishy-washy play house for child   
  
rejects without a solid reason? With you and your tendency to   
  
cause law-suits, I knew I'd have it easy. Now, let me finish   
  
talking to all these flaming baboons and I promise I'll-I'll   
  
have the entire damn cast of Passions flown out this weekend!   
  
I know how you love your soaps, sweetie."  
  
  
  
Darien was enraged. He wanted to jump Lawson and beat  
  
him into politcal sumbmission. He wanted to rip out his eyeballs   
  
and let Timmy and Tommy use them to play ping-pong. He wanted to   
  
chain him to his stupid chopper and sink him to the bottom of Lake   
  
Kiwachee like the load of garbage he was.  
  
Serena shared similar sentiments of her own but had a little  
  
more self-control and had to use her entire body to hold Darien from   
  
making his own dreams come true.  
  
By then Mina and the rest of her crew had arrived and   
  
heard the entire thing. Their mouths were hanging open, and Brianna's   
  
candid video lay long forgotten in Mina's hand.  
  
Somehow in the middle of the Lawson's heated exchanged,   
  
a sneaky reporter had snugged up to a tree beside them and recorded   
  
it with a look on her face like she'd struck oil.  
  
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," She uttered, revealing her presence   
  
to the red-faced duo and wiggling the recorder in her palm with   
  
a smirk, "And I thought the Great Divorce of '97 was good."  
  
  
  
Too involved in his daughter's sudden personality  
  
change, Frederick had failed to notice her presence. And when  
  
he did, he was not a happy camper.   
  
He whirled on her and growled, lunging towards her.  
  
"Segal!"   
  
"Nuh-uh, Freddy-boy. Wouldn't want attacking innocent  
  
reporters to be added to your pile of suits. Boy, they just seem  
  
to keep stackin' up there, don't they?" She grinned coyly and  
  
her mop of blonde hair bobbed as she laughed loudly.  
  
Behind them, Reginald Scott, dedicated attorney of the  
  
Lawson legacy for nearly three decades, cleared his throat behind Mr.  
  
Lawson and threw his briefcase at him.  
  
"You're on your own this time, buddy," And he bounded  
  
off, whistling through two fingers in his mouth. A limo strolled  
  
around the corner and he disappeared into it. As it rolled off,  
  
he slid through the sun-roof and laughed like a mad-man, his   
  
middle finger raised for all the world to see.  
  
A few cameras flashed by those who weren't too shocked  
  
to remember that their jobs were riding on this event.  
  
Frederick looked fit to cry. Brianna stood dumbly beside him;  
  
she seemed confused on what particular face she should be wearing  
  
at the moment. Citing it as a lost cause, she settled for a blank  
  
stare in the general direction of the long-gone limo.  
  
...  
  
"Does this mean I'm not going to get to meet the cast   
  
of Passions?"  
  
  
  
******  
  
An hour later, after all the news reporters had departed  
  
and Frederick and his daughter had sulked off in what would be later  
  
called the ultimate Walk of Shame, Serena, Darien, Karen, and   
  
everyone up at camp piled themselves into the coach bus, this time   
  
with the security of knowing that they'd be back.   
  
Jason tossed a shiny black video tape between his hands   
  
and smirked at Kyle's inquisitive gaze.  
  
"What? I'm sellin' this baby to Dateline."  
  
Kyle rolled his eyes at his friend's antics and heaved  
  
what seemed to be the hundredth freakin' bird house underneath  
  
the bus. One of them stubbornly rolled back out of the compartment,  
  
but before he could reach to pick it up, a pair of small hands  
  
had already retrieved it.  
  
Kyle shot up like a bolt of lightening. Mina had to stifle  
  
her grin and matching giggles. She bent over and slid the cage  
  
into a more secure position between the mass of crafts and luggage  
  
in order to avoid his deer-in-headlights gaze. When she'd risen   
  
to her full height again, Kyle was still standing stiff as a   
  
board and appeared to be competing for the world's closest   
  
resemblance to a tomato.  
  
"Uh...I...uh..." Kyle began, eliciting a snort from   
  
Jason, who was promptly tugged off by a grumbling Raye. She  
  
turned around to throw Mina a "Say something or I'll let Jason  
  
out of his cage" glare and disappeared onto the bus.  
  
Mina's heart was beating a million miles a minute  
  
and she'd nearly nibbled a hole through her bottom lip before  
  
Kyle said anything remotely coherent.  
  
"I guess this is it," He began. Mina balanced her weight  
  
on the heels of her shoes and rocked back and forth, a habit that  
  
she was notorious for when she had no idea of what the heck to say.  
  
"Yep." Oh come ON! Ask me out already! A movie, a milkshake,  
  
SOMETHING!   
  
Kyle grinned stupidly. He was slowly but surely gathering  
  
a small pile of courage in the back of his mind. Mina's steadfast  
  
gaze on him was doing little to help.  
  
"Look, Mina--"  
  
"I'd love to!" Mina burst out, blinding him with the force  
  
of her grin.   
  
Kyle stared at her dumbfounded for a few seconds, trying  
  
to contemplate what had exactly happened, before breaking out in  
  
a smile himself.  
  
"Great, um, yeah. So..."  
  
"We should!" She said exuberantly.   
  
"Of course. We should definitely--"  
  
"How about next week? Friday?" She supplied, her  
  
eyes shining like twin blue fairies.  
  
Kyle, by then, could barely grasp the edge of his  
  
mind to figure out what in God's name she was talking about,   
  
but if it was making her this happy, he sure as hell didn't   
  
want to ruin it.  
  
"Yeah. Friday's great. Maybe I'll--"  
  
"Here's my phone number," She grabbed his arm and  
  
the pen stuck behind her ear from when she'd been crossing  
  
off the roll before and scribbled ten digits onto his palm.  
  
When she'd finished, Kyle could only nod gratefully.  
  
Mina was so sublimely happy at that moment that she could barely  
  
see straight. She should have started going to camp years  
  
before!  
  
"Then it's a date!" She exclaimed, not waiting for  
  
his response before bounding onto the bus, leaving him with a  
  
priceless look of male obliviousness on his face.  
  
"Date?" The idea took a while to marinate in his mind,  
  
but when he put two and two together, he felt as if he might  
  
be sick.  
  
"I have a date? With--but...when did this happen?"  
  
Zach was passing by at the moment, looking smug about  
  
something, and heard Kyle's baffled rambling.  
  
"Dude, you have a date? With who?" He was thrilled  
  
that Kyle "The Rock" Warner had finally gotten some guts and  
  
asked a girl out--hopefully Mina. He'd been sweating her since  
  
the minute he'd laid eyes on her, and all the guys had been  
  
rooting for him after that shameful apple juice incident.  
  
Kyle shook his head at his friend wearily.  
  
"I wish I knew."  
  
Lita and Matt were seated on the bus, entirely in  
  
their own happy little bubble, and bickering over which of  
  
the Lawson's had looked more hilarious. Brianna, with her  
  
pitiful buzz cut and hopelessly flabbergasted expression of  
  
bewilderment, or her father, Frederick, who was nearly in  
  
tears as he and his daughter were chased down the dirt road  
  
by a histerical papparazzi with cameras rolling. They agreed  
  
to disagree and settled on the stunned newscaster who had  
  
taken a mouthful of Lawson's projectile imported toupèe.  
  
Lita promptly curled up against Matt's side, feeling  
  
more at home than she ever had been in her life. She opened   
  
her eyes to look around at the tiny children laughing (or   
  
plotting, in the Chai Monsters' case) and then at her   
  
friends who were placing new pieces to the jumbled puzzle   
  
that was their lives right before her very eyes. A grin  
  
stretched across her face, and she burrowed her head deeper  
  
into Matt's arm, knowing that for once, things were looking  
  
up for them.  
  
"EEWW! THERE'S A BUG IN MY HAAAAIIIRRRR!!!!"  
  
Dutifully, the pair rose from their seats (although   
  
Matt was a little less enthused than Lita about it) to   
  
assess the situation. In other words, they would chain Tommy   
  
to the back door and Timmy to the driver's seat and pray  
  
that they hadn't recovered the spare key Karen had   
  
stashed away in her office from the last time.   
  
  
  
Serena slung her duffle bug over her shoulder and sighed  
  
jubilantly. She couldn't have been more happy, and she'd gone on a   
  
hugging rampage for a full twenty minutes before Raye had finally   
  
threatened to chain her to a tree and leave her there until next   
  
summer after her fifth tear-filled embrace.  
  
Darien watched her silently, wondering if even after all   
  
that had gone on, they would go back home and resort to petty name-  
  
calling and verbal wars again.   
  
They were the last ones left outside the bus. Serena felt  
  
his gaze on her, but didn't turn around at first. She had to tame  
  
her intense case of anxiety first. After throwing her bag under the  
  
bus, she had no choice but her meet his gaze and she took her sweet  
  
time in turning around.  
  
Darien wasn't sure what to say when she wrapped her arms  
  
around his waist after an infinite moment of silence. It was the   
  
first time she'd actually acknowleged his presence since the   
  
whole Lawson ordeal, and he returned her embrace gladly.  
  
When she'd felt like she'd squeezed the life out of him   
  
enough, Serena released her grip on him and smiled.  
  
"Thanks, Darien...you know, for not giving up or anything.  
  
I-I almost did for a minute, but you were so sure about everything,  
  
and I...believed you. So, thanks," She finished, and by this time was  
  
nervously digging a hole to China in the ground with the toe of her  
  
shoe.  
  
Darien swallowed over the odd thing that was clogging his  
  
throat. He had no clue what it was. Really. He didn't. (snort)  
  
"Y-yeah, you too. I mean, you were great...and everything."  
  
"Yeah..." She started to turn, offering him a bright smile  
  
and one last chance to make his move.  
  
"Um, Serena. One more thing," He ran hand through his   
  
hair.  
  
"Yes, Darien?" She smirked at his awkwardness. She kind of  
  
liked watching him squirm like that. It was cute.  
  
"I, uh, I was just wondering. You know, we did kiss and  
  
*cough* everything--"  
  
He was cut off by her fingers over his lips.  
  
"Maybe you could sit by me on the way home?"   
  
He grinned.   
  
"Only if you promise not to play any of that God awful  
  
music the entire way home."  
  
Scoffing, she flipped a pony-tail over her shoulder and  
  
sniffed, barely hiding the smile in her eyes, "Don't worry. Jason  
  
let me borrow his Jay-Z CD."   
  
She patted his shoulder and bounced onto the bus. Rolling  
  
his eyes, Darien stuffed his bag under the bus and closed the latch,  
  
bounding after her as if he were 7 and she had poked him in the  
  
ribs on the playground.   
  
"You know, Meatball Head, I'm not above throwing it out  
  
the window."  
  
"Hey! You better not be talking about my CD!"  
  
"Shut up, Jason!!" Both yelled. Raye patted Jason's  
  
knee comfortingly and let him pout against her shoulder. The  
  
better part of the bus moaned. Serena and Darien were back.  
  
They'd just plopped into their seats as the bus rumbled   
  
to life and took off. It only took one glance at each other to  
  
know that they would never, in fact, be the Serena and Darien  
  
everyone knew and loved again. They'd gotten more out of Camp  
  
Kiwachee than a birdhouse they'd never use and pasta chain  
  
necklaces. The summer wasn't over yet, after all.  
  
5 minutes later...  
  
"You're so lame!"  
  
"I get it from you."  
  
"'Uh, *cough* you know, we did *kiss* and e-everything...'"  
  
She mocked, adding a sniffle at the end for good measure.  
  
"Don't act like it didn't blow you away."  
  
"Puh!"  
  
"Denial."  
  
"Jerk!"  
  
"Meatball Head."  
  
"GIVE IT UP, YOU TWO!"  
  
************************THE END******************************  
  
4/9/03  
  
Ta Da! *Phew* Finally...after how many months? Nine...WOW. I   
  
feel awful for having left you guys hanging like this all that  
  
time! You have no idea what a junior year in HS can do to a  
  
girl! I'm suffering from pre-exam trauma and post-SAT depression.  
  
Really. I am.   
  
;-) j/k! Thanks so much to those who have sent me encouraging  
  
e-mails over the months. I appreciate your support and I promise  
  
that this summer, I'll be back on track with new stories and a LOT  
  
more free time to write them. Thanks again for reading!  
  
*muaH*  
  
~Adrial~  
  
Adrial_06@yahoo.com  
  
REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! 


	10. One more time!

Alright you guys. I get the hint. My original Chapter 9 was   
  
no where NEAR romantic enough. I guess I ran out of waff juice  
  
half way through and was in a facetious type of mood. I apologize  
  
profusely and thus offer this alternate ending, with guaranteed   
  
lip-locks and all that nervous giggling and stuff. lol...I love  
  
any excuse to get back into this story, really. Thanks again  
  
and don't 4get to review and tell me what you think! I hope  
  
I'm humoring SOMEbody by doing this. :D enjoy!  
  
--Adrial--  
  
An hour later, after all the news reporters had departed  
  
and Frederick and his daughter had sulked off in what would be later  
  
called the ultimate Walk of Shame, Serena, Darien, Karen, and   
  
everyone up at camp piled themselves into the coach bus, this time   
  
with the security of knowing that they'd be back.   
  
Jason tossed a shiny black video tape between his hands   
  
and smirked at Kyle's inquisitive gaze.  
  
"What? I'm sellin' this baby to Dateline."  
  
Kyle rolled his eyes at his friend's antics and heaved  
  
what seemed to be the hundredth freakin' bird house underneath  
  
the bus. One of them stubbornly rolled back out of the compartment,  
  
but before he could reach to pick it up, a pair of small hands  
  
had already retrieved it.  
  
Kyle shot up like a bolt of lightening. Mina had to stifle  
  
her grin and matching giggles. She bent over and slid the cage  
  
into a more secure position between the mass of crafts and luggage  
  
in order to avoid his deer-in-headlights gaze. When she'd risen   
  
to her full height again, Kyle was still standing stiff as a   
  
board and appeared to be competing for the world's closest   
  
resemblance to a tomato.  
  
"Uh...I...uh..." Kyle began, eliciting a snort from   
  
Jason, who was promptly tugged off by a grumbling Raye. She  
  
turned around to throw Mina a "Say something or I'll let Jason  
  
out of his cage" glare and disappeared onto the bus.  
  
Mina's heart was beating a million miles a minute  
  
and she'd nearly nibbled a hole through her bottom lip before  
  
Kyle said anything remotely coherent.  
  
"I guess this is it," He began. Mina balanced her weight  
  
on the heels of her shoes and rocked back and forth, a habit that  
  
she was notorious for when she had no idea of what the heck to say.  
  
"Yep." Oh come ON! Ask me out already! A movie, a milkshake,  
  
SOMETHING!   
  
Kyle grinned stupidly. He was slowly but surely gathering  
  
a small pile of courage in the back of his mind. Mina's steadfast  
  
gaze on him was doing little to help.  
  
"Look, Mina--"  
  
"I'd love to!" Mina burst out, blinding him with the force  
  
of her grin.   
  
Kyle stared at her dumbfounded for a few seconds, trying  
  
to contemplate what had exactly happened, before breaking out in  
  
a smile himself.  
  
"Great, um, yeah. So..."  
  
"We should!" She said exuberantly.   
  
"Of course. We should definitely--"  
  
"How about next week? Friday?" She supplied, her  
  
eyes shining like twin blue fairies.  
  
Kyle, by then, could barely grasp the edge of his  
  
mind to figure out what in God's name she was talking about,   
  
but if it was making her this happy, he sure as hell didn't   
  
want to ruin it.  
  
"Yeah. Friday's great. Maybe I'll--"  
  
"Here's my phone number," She grabbed his arm and  
  
the pen stuck behind her ear from when she'd been crossing  
  
off the roll before and scribbled ten digits onto his palm.  
  
When she'd finished, Kyle could only nod gratefully.  
  
Mina was so sublimely happy at that moment that she could barely  
  
see straight. She should have started going to camp years  
  
before!  
  
"Then it's a date!" She exclaimed, not waiting for  
  
his response before bounding onto the bus, leaving him with a  
  
priceless look of male obliviousness on his face.  
  
"Date?" The idea took a while to marinate in his mind,  
  
but when he put two and two together, he felt as if he might  
  
be sick.  
  
"I have a date? With--but...when did this happen?"  
  
Zach was passing by at the moment, looking smug about  
  
something, and heard Kyle's baffled rambling.  
  
"Dude, you have a date? With who?" He was thrilled  
  
that Kyle "The Rock" Warner had finally gotten some guts and  
  
asked a girl out--hopefully Mina. He'd been sweating her since  
  
the minute he'd laid eyes on her, and all the guys had been  
  
rooting for him after that shameful apple juice incident.  
  
Kyle shook his head at his friend wearily.  
  
"I wish I knew."  
  
Lita and Matt were seated on the bus, entirely in  
  
their own happy little bubble, and bickering over which of  
  
the Lawson's had looked more hilarious. Brianna, with her  
  
pitiful buzz cut and hopelessly flabbergasted expression of  
  
bewilderment, or her father, Frederick, who was nearly in  
  
tears as he and his daughter were chased down the dirt road  
  
by a histerical papparazzi with cameras rolling. They agreed  
  
to disagree and settled on the stunned newscaster who had  
  
taken a mouthful of Lawson's projectile imported toupèe.  
  
Lita promptly curled up against Matt's side, feeling  
  
more at home than she ever had been in her life. She opened   
  
her eyes to look around at the tiny children laughing (or   
  
plotting, in the Chai Monsters' case) and then at her   
  
friends who were placing new pieces to the jumbled puzzle   
  
that was their lives right before her very eyes. A grin  
  
stretched across her face, and she burrowed her head deeper  
  
into Matt's arm, knowing that for once, things were looking  
  
up for them.  
  
"EEWW! THERE'S A BUG IN MY HAAAAIIIRRRR!!!!"  
  
Dutifully, the pair rose from their seats (although   
  
Matt was a little less enthused than Lita about it) to   
  
assess the situation. In other words, they would chain Tommy   
  
to the back door and Timmy to the driver's seat and pray  
  
that they hadn't recovered the spare key Karen had   
  
stashed away in her office from the last time.   
  
Serena slung her duffle bug over her shoulder and sighed  
  
jubilantly. She couldn't have been more happy, and she'd gone on a   
  
hugging rampage for a full twenty minutes before Raye had finally   
  
threatened to chain her to a tree and leave her there until next   
  
summer after her fifth tear-filled embrace.  
  
Darien watched her silently from a distance; he was standing  
  
by the mess hall, leaning against the aged wooden wall and committing  
  
the entire place to memory for another year until he'd be back. As he  
  
inhaled the scent of honey suckle and pine, he wondered if even after all   
  
that had gone on, he and his Meatball Head would go back home and resort to petty name-calling and verbal wars again.   
  
He didn't think that at all possible as he watched with a glazed over expression when she approached him almost timidly, and there was ne'er a word he could think of to say, much less an insult.  
  
She gazed at him through blonde eyelashes and fiddled with the   
  
lanyard labeled "COUNSELOR SERENA" around her neck. Darien looked at her  
  
silently, unnerving her with his cold, calculative eyes. But she quickly  
  
reminded herself that this was Darien, the Jerk, the Egotistical, the Beautiful, the person she'd been sucking face with less than 48 hours ago...  
  
Oh, don't let me barf all over him--PLEASE.  
  
"Thanks, Darien," She finally blurted, and at his obscure glance, she cleared her throat and scratched the back of her head absently, smiling like an idiot, "...you know, for not giving up or anything. I-I almost did for a minute, but you were so sure about everything, and I...believed you. So, thanks," She finished, and by this time was nervously digging a hole to China in the ground with the toe of her shoe.  
  
Darien swallowed over the odd thing that was clogging his  
  
throat. He had no clue what it was. Really. He didn't. (snort)  
  
"Y-yeah, you too. I mean, you were great...and everything."  
  
"Yeah..." She started to turn, offering him a bright smile  
  
and one last chance to make his move.  
  
"Um, Serena. One more thing," He ran hand through his   
  
hair.  
  
"Yes, Darien?" She smirked at his awkwardness. She kind of  
  
liked watching him squirm like that. It was cute.  
  
"I, uh, I was just wondering. You know, we did kiss and  
  
cough everything--"  
  
She'd been waiting for this. In a flash of brilliancy even Ami would have been proud of, Serena quickly silenced his next words with her fingers.  
  
"Wait, before you finish that sentence, I need to make sure of one more thing," And she stood up on her tip-toes, pulled his head closer to hers and crashed her mouth against his. He was too shocked to respond initially, but when she forced his mouth open and some-what clumsily deepened their kiss, he gave into the heat of her mouth against his and guided her with his own, feeling the need to wrap her tiny frame into his embrace and shield her from the world's view.   
  
Serena felt his hands on her back and forgot about every stupid thing she'd ever said to him, welcoming his gentle caresses like warm sunshine on her face. They stayed like that for what seemed like hours, tasting each other and kissing away the tension that had been steadily building up for the past two years of their lives.  
  
The roaring buses droned away inside of their heads, but when the driver honked the horn forcefully, they were forced to break apart, lips swollen and eyes glazed with amazement.  
  
Serena breathed heavily against his chest; her arms had snaked themselves around his neck and his around her waist. She felt the corners of her lips twitching and itching to grin, but she held them back for a change.  
  
"You were saying?"   
  
Darien's mind was spinning out of control; he knew that what they had just done had sealed it. They would never, in fact, be the same old Serena and Darien ever again. It scared the hell out him, actually, but the way her blue eyes were dancing at him and not laced with their usual fire led him to believe that a change was exactly what his life's course could use.  
  
"Are you sure?" He gave her a questioning stare, wondering if his thoughts were the same as hers. She answered him with a soft brush of her lips across his.  
  
"No," She stated bluntly, and he gave an adorable frown, "But there's plenty of summer left for you to convince me." Smiling giddily, she accepted his lips once again and when they could no longer hear themselves mentally squeal with happiness over the redundant honks of the bus driver, they practically floated back to the bus, hand in hand.  
  
"Do I still get to call you Meatball Head?"  
  
"Only if I get to call you Darien DARling."  
  
"Point taken."  
  
-------------THE END!!!------------------------  
  
lol..there you go! geez, now people PLEASE quit e-mailing me and asking for more smoochin' at the end! hahaha, i'm just kidding! you know, I told myself when I put in the previous ending, I would be receiving all KINDS of hate mail, but in all actuality, i'm a softy at heart and love writing it; I just can't stand it when people write fics over a short period of time and have everyone making out and declaring their love for each other at the very end. I kinda like the previous ending better, but hopefully this will quench everyone's thirst for some juicy mush 'n gush. hehehe...drop me a review and tell me whatcha think! no sequel so far planned; sorry!  
  
PS: if you're into HP: check out my fics "To be or not to be a Weasley" and "Home". I'm trying something new! And I'm uploading To Go, Please REVISED which is a new version with brand new chapters and much much MUCH better writing on my part. :) Thanks for all the support! muah!  
  
Adrial  
  
Adrial06yahoo.com  
  
REVIEW! 


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